pegabavspegadoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#23,894
“pegaba” frequency rank
#8,160
“pegado” frequency rank
32054
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pegaba pegado
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de pegar. Participio de pegar.

Where the eye mixes pegaba and pegado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
pegaba
6 ch
pegado

Look-alike desk: pegaba vs pegado

A purely visual mix-up. pegaba ([peˈɣ̞aβ̞a]) and pegado ([peˈɣ̞að̞o]) 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 32054, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pegaba is recorded at frequency rank #23,894, classified as averb, pronounced [peˈɣ̞aβ̞a]. pegado is at rank #8,160, tagged as averb, pronounced [peˈɣ̞að̞o].

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 32054, this pair ranks #203,982 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pegaba vs pegado

Shared letters: aegp. Private to "pegaba": b. Private to "pegado": do.

"pegaba" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "pegado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pegabaepgaba · peagba · pegaab · pegabba · pegava · pegbaa · peggaba · pgeaba
  • pegadoepgado · peagdo · pegaddo · pegaod · pegdao · peggado · pgeado · ppegado

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pegaba" for "pegado" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([peˈɣ̞aβ̞a] versus [peˈɣ̞að̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pegaba" vs "pegado" - which ranks higher?
"pegado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,160 in our Spanish list, against #23,894 for "pegaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "pegaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pegado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #203,982 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pegaba" and "pegado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pegaba vs pegaban". 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 #203,982 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