Which to use
“llegaban” and “llenaban” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,850
- “llegaban” frequency rank
- #37,695
- “llenaban” frequency rank
- 47545
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | llegaban | llenaban |
|---|---|---|
| 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 imperfecto de indicativo de llenar. |
Where the eye mixes llegaban and llenaban
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. llegaban and llenaban follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses llegaban with llenaban
A purely visual mix-up. llegaban ([ʝeˈɣ̞aβ̞ãn]) and llenaban ([ʝeˈnaβ̞ãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - g in “llegaban” becomes n in “llenaban”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47545, 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]. llenaban is at rank #37,695, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʝeˈnaβ̞ãn].
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 47545, this pair ranks #119,452 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of llegaban vs llenaban
Shared letters: abeln. Private to "llegaban": g. Private to "llenaban": -.
"llegaban" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC · "llenaban" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "llegaban" for "llenaban" ever safe?
Which is more common, "llegaban" or "llenaban"?
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 "llenaban" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #119,452 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "llegaban" and "llenaban" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "llenaban vs llevabas". 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 #119,452 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.