llegabavsllegaseTell them apart

Which to use

“llegaba” and “llegase” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,981
“llegaba” frequency rank
#21,387
“llegase” frequency rank
27368
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature llegaba llegase
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de llegar o de llegarse. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de subjuntivo de llegar o de llegarse.

Where the eye mixes llegaba and llegase

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. llegaba and llegase follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
llegaba
7 ch
llegase

Visual trap between llegaba and llegase

A purely visual mix-up. llegaba ([ʝeˈɣ̞aβ̞a]) and llegase ([ʝeˈɣ̞ase]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27368, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

llegaba is recorded at frequency rank #5,981, classified as averb, pronounced [ʝeˈɣ̞aβ̞a]. llegase is at rank #21,387, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʝeˈɣ̞ase].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 27368, this pair ranks #227,153 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of llegaba vs llegase

Shared letters: aegl. Private to "llegaba": b. Private to "llegase": s.

"llegaba" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "llegase" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • llegaba ← legaba · lelgaba · lleagba · llegaab · llegabba · llegava · llegbaa · lleggaba
  • llegase ← legase · lelgase · lleagse · llegace · llegaes · llegasse · lleggase · llegsae

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "llegaba" for "llegase" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʝeˈɣ̞aβ̞a] versus [ʝeˈɣ̞ase]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "llegaba" vs "llegase" - which ranks higher?
"llegaba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,981 in our Spanish list, against #21,387 for "llegase". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "llegaba" and "llegase" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "llegaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "llegase" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #227,153 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "llegaba" and "llegase" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "llegase vs llegasen". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #227,153 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list