respetavsrespetabaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,226
“respeta” frequency rank
#36,264
“respetaba” frequency rank
43490
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature respeta respetaba
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de respetar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de respetar.

Where the eye mixes respeta and respetaba

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. respeta runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against respetaba's 9 (CVCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
respeta
9 ch
respetaba

Look-alike desk: respeta vs respetaba

A purely visual mix-up. respeta ([resˈpet̪a]) and respetaba ([respeˈt̪aβ̞a]) 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) - “respeta” sits inside “respetaba”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43490, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

respeta is recorded at frequency rank #7,226, classified as averb, pronounced [resˈpet̪a]. respetaba is at rank #36,264, tagged as averb, pronounced [respeˈt̪aβ̞a].

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 43490, this pair ranks #142,343 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of respeta vs respetaba

Shared letters: aeprst. Private to "respeta": -. Private to "respetaba": b.

"respeta" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "respetaba" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • respeta ← erspeta · repseta · resepta · respeat · respetta · resppeta · resptea · resspeta
  • respetaba ← erspetaba · repsetaba · reseptaba · respeatba · respetaab · respetabba · respetava · respetbaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "respeta" for "respetaba" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([resˈpet̪a] versus [respeˈt̪aβ̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "respeta" or "respetaba"?
"respeta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,226 in our Spanish list, against #36,264 for "respetaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "respeta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "respetaba" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #142,343 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "respeta" and "respetaba" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "respetaba vs respetará". 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 #142,343 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