pegabanvspensabanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#43,168
“pegaban” frequency rank
#10,549
“pensaban” frequency rank
53717
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pegaban pensaban
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de pegar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de pensar.

Where the eye mixes pegaban and pensaban

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. pegaban runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against pensaban's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
pegaban
8 ch
pensaban

Why the eye confuses pegaban with pensaban

A purely visual mix-up. pegaban ([peˈɣ̞aβ̞ãn]) and pensaban ([pẽnˈsaβ̞ãn]) 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 53717, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pegaban is recorded at frequency rank #43,168, classified as averb, pronounced [peˈɣ̞aβ̞ãn]. pensaban is at rank #10,549, tagged as averb, pronounced [pẽnˈsaβ̞ãn].

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 53717, this pair ranks #86,557 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pegaban vs pensaban

Shared letters: abenp. Private to "pegaban": g. Private to "pensaban": s.

"pegaban" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "pensaban" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pegaban ← epgaban · peagban · pegaabn · pegabann · pegabban · pegabna · pegavan · pegbaan
  • pensaban ← epnsaban · penasban · pennsaban · pensaabn · pensabann · pensabban · pensabna · pensavan

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pegaban" and "pensaban" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([peˈɣ̞aβ̞ãn] versus [pẽnˈsaβ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pegaban" vs "pensaban" - which ranks higher?
"pensaban" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,549 in our Spanish list, against #43,168 for "pegaban". 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 "pegaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pensaban" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #86,557 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pegaban" and "pensaban" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "paraban 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 #86,557 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