Which to use
“preguntaban” and “preguntará” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,471
- “preguntaban” frequency rank
- #36,222
- “preguntará” frequency rank
- 56693
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | preguntaban | preguntará |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de preguntar. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del futuro de indicativo de preguntar. |
Where the eye mixes preguntaban and preguntará
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. preguntaban runs 11 letters (CCVCVCCVCVC) against preguntará's 10 (CCVCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between preguntaban and preguntará
A purely visual mix-up. preguntaban ([pɾeɣ̞ũn̪ˈt̪aβ̞ãn]) and preguntará ([pɾeɣ̞ũn̪t̪aˈɾa]) 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 56693, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
preguntaban is recorded at frequency rank #20,471, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾeɣ̞ũn̪ˈt̪aβ̞ãn]. preguntará is at rank #36,222, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾeɣ̞ũn̪t̪aˈɾa].
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 56693, this pair ranks #73,519 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of preguntaban vs preguntará
Shared letters: aegnprtu. Private to "preguntaban": b. Private to "preguntará": á.
"preguntaban" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVCCVCVC · "preguntará" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- preguntaban ← perguntaban · ppreguntaban · pregguntaban · pregnutaban · pregunatban · pregunntaban · preguntaabn · preguntabann
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "preguntaban" for "preguntará" ever safe?
Which is more common, "preguntaban" or "preguntará"?
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 "preguntaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "preguntará" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #73,519 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "preguntaban" and "preguntará" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "preguntará vs preguntarán". 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 #73,519 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.