preguntasvspreguntasteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#832
“preguntas” frequency rank
#25,770
“preguntaste” frequency rank
26602
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature preguntas preguntaste
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de preguntar. Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de preguntar.

Where the eye mixes preguntas and preguntaste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. preguntas runs 9 letters (CCVCVCCVC) against preguntaste's 11 (CCVCVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
preguntas
11 ch
preguntaste

Look-alike desk: preguntas vs preguntaste

A purely visual mix-up. preguntas ([pɾeˈɣ̞ũn̪t̪as]) and preguntaste ([pɾeɣ̞ũn̪ˈt̪ast̪e]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “preguntas” sits inside “preguntaste”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26602, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

preguntas is recorded at frequency rank #832, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾeˈɣ̞ũn̪t̪as]. preguntaste is at rank #25,770, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾeɣ̞ũn̪ˈt̪ast̪e].

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 26602, this pair ranks #230,843 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of preguntas vs preguntaste

Shared letters: aegnprstu. Private to "preguntas": -. Private to "preguntaste": -.

"preguntas" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC  ·  "preguntaste" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • preguntas ← perguntas · ppreguntas · pregguntas · pregnutas · pregunats · pregunntas · preguntass · preguntsa
  • preguntaste ← perguntaste · ppreguntaste · pregguntaste · pregnutaste · pregunatste · pregunntaste · preguntaset · preguntasste

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "preguntas" and "preguntaste" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([pɾeˈɣ̞ũn̪t̪as] versus [pɾeɣ̞ũn̪ˈt̪ast̪e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "preguntas" or "preguntaste" show up more?
"preguntas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #832 in our Spanish list, against #25,770 for "preguntaste". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "preguntas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "preguntaste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #230,843 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "preguntas" and "preguntaste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "preguntarme vs preguntaste". 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 #230,843 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