pegabavspeganWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#23,894
“pegaba” frequency rank
#15,443
“pegan” frequency rank
39337
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes pegaba and pegan

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

6 ch
pegaba
5 ch
pegan

Look-alike desk: pegaba vs pegan

A purely visual mix-up. pegaba ([peˈɣ̞aβ̞a]) and pegan ([ˈpeɣ̞ãn]) 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 39337, 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]. pegan is at rank #15,443, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpeɣ̞ãn].

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 39337, this pair ranks #165,077 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pegaba vs pegan

Shared letters: aegp. Private to "pegaba": b. Private to "pegan": n.

"pegaba" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "pegan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pegabaepgaba · peagba · pegaab · pegabba · pegava · pegbaa · peggaba · pgeaba
  • peganepgan · peagn · pegann · peggan · pegna · pgean · ppegan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pegaba" for "pegan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([peˈɣ̞aβ̞a] versus [ˈpeɣ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pegaba" vs "pegan" - which ranks higher?
"pegan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,443 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.

Useful next steps

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 "pegan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #165,077 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pegaba" and "pegan" 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 #165,077 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