recomendabavsrecomendarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,786
“recomendaba” frequency rank
#11,849
“recomendar” frequency rank
48635
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recomendaba recomendar
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de recomendar. Sugerir a alguien para un cargo o puesto.

Where the eye mixes recomendaba and recomendar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. recomendaba runs 11 letters (CVCVCVCCVCV) against recomendar's 10 (CVCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
recomendaba
10 ch
recomendar

Visual trap between recomendaba and recomendar

A purely visual mix-up. recomendaba ([rekomẽn̪ˈd̪aβ̞a]) and recomendar ([rekomẽn̪ˈd̪aɾ]) 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 48635, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recomendaba is recorded at frequency rank #36,786, classified as averb, pronounced [rekomẽn̪ˈd̪aβ̞a]. recomendar is at rank #11,849, tagged as averb, pronounced [rekomẽn̪ˈd̪aɾ].

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 48635, this pair ranks #113,364 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of recomendaba vs recomendar

Shared letters: acdemnor. Private to "recomendaba": b. Private to "recomendar": -.

"recomendaba" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVCCVCV  ·  "recomendar" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recomendabaercomendaba · rceomendaba · reccomendaba · recmoendaba · recoemndaba · recomednaba · recomenadba · recomendaab
  • recomendarercomendar · rceomendar · reccomendar · recmoendar · recoemndar · recomednar · recomenadr · recomendarr

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "recomendaba" for "recomendar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([rekomẽn̪ˈd̪aβ̞a] versus [rekomẽn̪ˈd̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "recomendaba" vs "recomendar" - which ranks higher?
"recomendar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,849 in our Spanish list, against #36,786 for "recomendaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "recomendaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "recomendar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #113,364 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "recomendaba" and "recomendar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recomendaba vs recomendadas". 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 #113,364 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