mencionabavsmencionadoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#23,496
“mencionaba” frequency rank
#3,576
“mencionado” frequency rank
27072
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mencionaba mencionado
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de mencionar. Participio de mencionar.

Where the eye mixes mencionaba and mencionado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. mencionaba and mencionado follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
mencionaba
10 ch
mencionado

Why the eye confuses mencionaba with mencionado

A purely visual mix-up. mencionaba ([mẽnsjoˈnaβ̞a]) and mencionado ([mẽnsjoˈnað̞o]) 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 27072, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mencionaba is recorded at frequency rank #23,496, classified as averb, pronounced [mẽnsjoˈnaβ̞a]. mencionado is at rank #3,576, tagged as averb, pronounced [mẽnsjoˈnað̞o].

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 27072, this pair ranks #228,582 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mencionaba vs mencionado

Shared letters: aceimno. Private to "mencionaba": b. Private to "mencionado": d.

"mencionaba" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCV  ·  "mencionado" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mencionabaemncionaba · mecnionaba · menccionaba · mencinoaba · mencioanba · mencionaab · mencionabba · mencionava
  • mencionadoemncionado · mecnionado · menccionado · mencinoado · mencioando · mencionaddo · mencionaod · menciondao

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mencionaba" and "mencionado" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([mẽnsjoˈnaβ̞a] versus [mẽnsjoˈnað̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "mencionaba" vs "mencionado" - which ranks higher?
"mencionado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,576 in our Spanish list, against #23,496 for "mencionaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "mencionaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mencionado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #228,582 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mencionaba" and "mencionado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mencionaba vs mencionas". 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 #228,582 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