Which to use
“quedaban” and “quejaban” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,027
- “quedaban” frequency rank
- #38,330
- “quejaban” frequency rank
- 47357
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | quedaban | quejaban |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de quedar o de quedarse. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de quejar. |
Where the eye mixes quedaban and quejaban
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. quedaban and quejaban follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: quedaban vs quejaban
A purely visual mix-up. quedaban ([keˈð̞aβ̞ãn]) and quejaban ([keˈxaβ̞ãn]) 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 a single letter - d in “quedaban” becomes j in “quejaban”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47357, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
quedaban is recorded at frequency rank #9,027, classified as averb, pronounced [keˈð̞aβ̞ãn]. quejaban is at rank #38,330, tagged as averb, pronounced [keˈxaβ̞ãn].
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 47357, this pair ranks #120,487 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of quedaban vs quejaban
Shared letters: abenqu. Private to "quedaban": d. Private to "quejaban": j.
"quedaban" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC · "quejaban" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "quedaban" for "quejaban" ever safe?
Frequency check: "quedaban" vs "quejaban" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "quedaban" and "quejaban" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "quedaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "quejaban" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #120,487 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "quedaban" and "quejaban" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quejaban vs quitaban". 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 #120,487 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.