Which to use
“llegaban” and “llegaron” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,850
- “llegaban” frequency rank
- #1,778
- “llegaron” frequency rank
- 11628
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | llegaban | llegaron |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de llegar. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de llegar o de llegarse. |
Where the eye mixes llegaban and llegaron
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. llegaban and llegaron follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: llegaban vs llegaron
A purely visual mix-up. llegaban ([ʝeˈɣ̞aβ̞ãn]) and llegaron ([ʝeˈɣ̞aɾõn]) 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 11628, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
llegaban is recorded at frequency rank #9,850, classified as averb, pronounced [ʝeˈɣ̞aβ̞ãn]. llegaron is at rank #1,778, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʝeˈɣ̞aɾõn].
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 11628, this pair ranks #294,413 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of llegaban vs llegaron
Shared letters: aegln. Private to "llegaban": b. Private to "llegaron": or.
"llegaban" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC · "llegaron" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "llegaban" for "llegaron" ever safe?
Frequency check: "llegaban" vs "llegaron" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "llegaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "llegaron" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #294,413 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "llegaban" and "llegaron" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "llegaban 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 #294,413 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.