marcabavsmirabaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,706
“marcaba” frequency rank
#6,704
“miraba” frequency rank
32410
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature marcaba miraba
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de marcar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de mirar o de mirarse.

Where the eye mixes marcaba and miraba

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

7 ch
marcaba
6 ch
miraba

Visual trap between marcaba and miraba

A purely visual mix-up. marcaba ([maɾˈkaβ̞a]) and miraba ([miˈɾaβ̞a]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32410, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

marcaba is recorded at frequency rank #25,706, classified as averb, pronounced [maɾˈkaβ̞a]. miraba is at rank #6,704, tagged as averb, pronounced [miˈɾaβ̞a].

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 32410, this pair ranks #202,109 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of marcaba vs miraba

Shared letters: abmr. Private to "marcaba": c. Private to "miraba": i.

"marcaba" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "miraba" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • marcabaamrcaba · macraba · maracba · marcaab · marcabba · marcava · marcbaa · marccaba
  • mirabaimraba · miarba · miraab · mirabba · mirava · mirbaa · mirraba · mmiraba

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "marcaba" and "miraba" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([maɾˈkaβ̞a] versus [miˈɾaβ̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "marcaba" vs "miraba" - which ranks higher?
"miraba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,704 in our Spanish list, against #25,706 for "marcaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "marcaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "miraba" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #202,109 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "marcaba" and "miraba" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "marcaba vs mareada". 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 #202,109 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