pegadavspesabaConfusable pair

Quick tell: pegada is a participle, pesaba is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pegada” is a participle and “pesaba” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,911
“pegada” frequency rank
#21,106
“pesaba” frequency rank
36017
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pegada pesaba
Definition Forma del femenino de pegado, participio de pegar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de pesar.

Where the eye mixes pegada and pesaba

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

6 ch
pegada
6 ch
pesaba

Look-alike desk: pegada vs pesaba

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pegada is [peˈɣ̞að̞a] while pesaba is [peˈsaβ̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (participle vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36017, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pegada is recorded at frequency rank #14,911, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [peˈɣ̞að̞a]. pesaba is at rank #21,106, tagged as averb, pronounced [peˈsaβ̞a].

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 36017, this pair ranks #182,929 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pegada vs pesaba

Shared letters: aep. Private to "pegada": dg. Private to "pesaba": bs.

"pegada" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "pesaba" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pegadaepgada · peagda · pegaad · pegadda · pegdaa · peggada · pgeada · ppegada
  • pesabaepsaba · peasba · pesaab · pesabba · pesava · pesbaa · pessaba · ppesaba

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pegada" and "pesaba" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pegada" is a participle and "pesaba" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pegada" or "pesaba"?
"pegada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,911 in our Spanish list, against #21,106 for "pesaba". 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 "pegada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pesaba" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #182,929 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pegada" and "pesaba" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pesaba vs pisada". 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 #182,929 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