llevabavsllevadoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,570
“llevaba” frequency rank
#1,943
“llevado” frequency rank
4513
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature llevaba llevado
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de llevar o de llevarse. Participio de llevar o de llevarse.

Where the eye mixes llevaba and llevado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
llevaba
7 ch
llevado

Visual trap between llevaba and llevado

A purely visual mix-up. llevaba ([ʝeˈβ̞aβ̞a]) and llevado ([ʝeˈβ̞að̞o]) 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 4513, 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]. llevado is at rank #1,943, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʝeˈβ̞að̞o].

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 4513, this pair ranks #315,921 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of llevaba vs llevado

Shared letters: aelv. Private to "llevaba": b. Private to "llevado": do.

"llevaba" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "llevado" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • llevabalelvaba · levaba · lleavba · llebaba · llevaab · llevabba · llevava · llevbaa
  • llevadolelvado · levado · lleavdo · llebado · llevaddo · llevaod · llevdao · llevvado

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "llevaba" and "llevado" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ʝeˈβ̞aβ̞a] versus [ʝeˈβ̞að̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "llevaba" or "llevado"?
"llevado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,943 in our Spanish list, against #2,570 for "llevaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "llevaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "llevado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #315,921 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "llevaba" and "llevado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "llevaba 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 #315,921 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