llevabavsllevabanTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,570
“llevaba” frequency rank
#6,080
“llevaban” frequency rank
8650
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature llevaba llevaban
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de llevar o de llevarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de llevar.

Where the eye mixes llevaba and llevaban

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
llevaba
8 ch
llevaban

Why the eye confuses llevaba with llevaban

A purely visual mix-up. llevaba ([ʝeˈβ̞aβ̞a]) and llevaban ([ʝeˈβ̞aβ̞ãn]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “llevaba” sits inside “llevaban”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8650, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

llevaba is recorded at frequency rank #2,570, classified as averb, pronounced [ʝeˈβ̞aβ̞a]. llevaban is at rank #6,080, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʝeˈβ̞aβ̞ãn].

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 8650, this pair ranks #304,382 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of llevaba vs llevaban

Shared letters: abelv. Private to "llevaba": -. Private to "llevaban": n.

"llevaba" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "llevaban" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • llevabalelvaba · levaba · lleavba · llebaba · llevaab · llevabba · llevava · llevbaa
  • llevabanlelvaban · levaban · lleavban · llebaban · llevaabn · llevabann · llevabban · llevabna

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "llevaba" for "llevaban" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʝeˈβ̞aβ̞a] versus [ʝeˈβ̞aβ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "llevaba" vs "llevaban" - which ranks higher?
"llevaba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,570 in our Spanish list, against #6,080 for "llevaban". 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 "llevaba" and "llevaban" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "llevaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "llevaban" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #304,382 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "llevaba" and "llevaban" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "llevaban vs llevarás". 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 #304,382 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