ocultabavsocultanWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#36,186
“ocultaba” frequency rank
#17,224
“ocultan” frequency rank
53410
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ocultaba ocultan
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de ocultar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de ocultar.

Where the eye mixes ocultaba and ocultan

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

8 ch
ocultaba
7 ch
ocultan

Visual trap between ocultaba and ocultan

A purely visual mix-up. ocultaba ([okul̪ˈt̪aβ̞a]) and ocultan ([oˈkul̪t̪ãn]) 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 53410, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ocultaba is recorded at frequency rank #36,186, classified as averb, pronounced [okul̪ˈt̪aβ̞a]. ocultan is at rank #17,224, tagged as averb, pronounced [oˈkul̪t̪ãn].

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 53410, this pair ranks #88,006 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ocultaba vs ocultan

Shared letters: aclotu. Private to "ocultaba": b. Private to "ocultan": n.

"ocultaba" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV  ·  "ocultan" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ocultabacoultaba · occultaba · oclutaba · oculatba · oculltaba · ocultaab · ocultabba · ocultava
  • ocultancoultan · occultan · oclutan · oculatn · oculltan · ocultann · ocultna · oculttan

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ocultaba" and "ocultan" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([okul̪ˈt̪aβ̞a] versus [oˈkul̪t̪ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ocultaba" vs "ocultan" - which ranks higher?
"ocultan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,224 in our Spanish list, against #36,186 for "ocultaba". 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 "ocultaba" and "ocultan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ocultaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ocultan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #88,006 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ocultaba" and "ocultan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ocultaba vs ocultado". 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 #88,006 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