pagabanvspaganaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pagaban is a verb, pagana is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pagaban” is a verb and “pagana” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,925
“pagaban” frequency rank
#37,245
“pagana” frequency rank
56170
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pagaban pagana
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de pagar. Pieza de madera de roble de treinta pies de longitud y con una escuadría de doce pulgadas de tabla por diez de canto.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pagaban and pagana apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
pagaban
6 ch
pagana

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pagaban is [paˈɣ̞aβ̞ãn] while pagana is [paˈɣ̞ana]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56170, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pagaban is recorded at frequency rank #18,925, classified as averb, pronounced [paˈɣ̞aβ̞ãn]. pagana is at rank #37,245, tagged as anoun, pronounced [paˈɣ̞ana].

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 56170, this pair ranks #75,742 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pagaban vs pagana

Shared letters: agnp. Private to "pagaban": b. Private to "pagana": -.

"pagaban" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "pagana" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pagabanapgaban · paagban · pagaabn · pagabann · pagabban · pagabna · pagavan · pagbaan
  • paganaapgana · paagna · pagaan · paganna · paggana · pagnaa · pgaana · ppagana

Frequency comparison

pagaban#18,925
pagana#37,245

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pagaban" and "pagana" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pagaban" is a verb and "pagana" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pagaban" or "pagana"?
"pagaban" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,925 in our Spanish list, against #37,245 for "pagana". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pagaban vs pagana

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “pagaban”; for a noun, it's “pagana”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pagaban” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list