llegabanvsllorabanConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#9,850
“llegaban” frequency rank
#34,657
“lloraban” frequency rank
44507
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature llegaban lloraban
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 llorar.

Where the eye mixes llegaban and lloraban

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. llegaban and lloraban follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
llegaban
8 ch
lloraban

Look-alike desk: llegaban vs lloraban

A purely visual mix-up. llegaban ([ʝeˈɣ̞aβ̞ãn]) and lloraban ([ʝoˈɾaβ̞ãn]) 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 44507, 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]. lloraban is at rank #34,657, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʝoˈɾaβ̞ãn].

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 44507, this pair ranks #136,689 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of llegaban vs lloraban

Shared letters: abln. Private to "llegaban": eg. Private to "lloraban": or.

"llegaban" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC  ·  "lloraban" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • llegaban ← legaban · lelgaban · lleagban · llegaabn · llegabann · llegabban · llegabna · llegavan
  • lloraban ← lloarban · lloraabn · llorabann · llorabban · llorabna · lloravan · llorbaan · llorraban

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "llegaban" and "lloraban" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ʝeˈɣ̞aβ̞ãn] versus [ʝoˈɾaβ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "llegaban" vs "lloraban" - which ranks higher?
"llegaban" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,850 in our Spanish list, against #34,657 for "lloraban". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "llegaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lloraban" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #136,689 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "llegaban" and "lloraban" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lloraban vs lloraron". 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 #136,689 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