llevabanvsllorabanTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,080
“llevaban” frequency rank
#34,657
“lloraban” frequency rank
40737
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature llevaban lloraban
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de llevar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de llorar.

Where the eye mixes llevaban and lloraban

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
llevaban
8 ch
lloraban

Visual trap between llevaban and lloraban

A purely visual mix-up. llevaban ([ʝeˈβ̞aβ̞ãn]) 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 40737, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

llevaban is recorded at frequency rank #6,080, classified as averb, pronounced [ʝeˈβ̞aβ̞ãn]. 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 40737, this pair ranks #157,470 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of llevaban vs lloraban

Shared letters: abln. Private to "llevaban": ev. Private to "lloraban": or.

"llevaban" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC  ·  "lloraban" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • llevabanlelvaban · levaban · lleavban · llebaban · llevaabn · llevabann · llevabban · llevabna
  • llorabanlloarban · lloraabn · llorabann · llorabban · llorabna · lloravan · llorbaan · llorraban

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "llevaban" and "lloraban" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ʝeˈβ̞aβ̞ãn] versus [ʝoˈɾaβ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "llevaban" or "lloraban"?
"llevaban" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,080 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.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "llevaban" 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 #157,470 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "llevaban" 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 #157,470 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