quejabanvsquemabanConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#38,330
“quejaban” frequency rank
#45,541
“quemaban” frequency rank
83871
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quejaban quemaban
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de quejar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de quemar.

Where the eye mixes quejaban and quemaban

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. quejaban and quemaban follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
quejaban
8 ch
quemaban

Look-alike desk: quejaban vs quemaban

A purely visual mix-up. quejaban ([keˈxaβ̞ãn]) and quemaban ([keˈmaβ̞ãn]) 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 - j in “quejaban” becomes m in “quemaban”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83871, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quejaban is recorded at frequency rank #38,330, classified as averb, pronounced [keˈxaβ̞ãn]. quemaban is at rank #45,541, tagged as averb, pronounced [keˈmaβ̞ãn].

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 83871, this pair ranks #7,647 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of quejaban vs quemaban

Shared letters: abenqu. Private to "quejaban": j. Private to "quemaban": m.

"quejaban" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC  ·  "quemaban" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quejaban ← qeujaban · qquejaban · queajban · quejaabn · quejabann · quejabban · quejabna · quejavan
  • quemaban ← qeumaban · qquemaban · queamban · quemaabn · quemabann · quemabban · quemabna · quemavan

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quejaban" and "quemaban" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([keˈxaβ̞ãn] versus [keˈmaβ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "quejaban" vs "quemaban" - which ranks higher?
"quejaban" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,330 in our Spanish list, against #45,541 for "quemaban". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "quejaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "quemaban" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #7,647 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "quejaban" and "quemaban" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quemaban 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 #7,647 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