solicitavssolicitabaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,121
“solicita” frequency rank
#31,990
“solicitaba” frequency rank
38111
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes solicita and solicitaba

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

8 ch
solicita
10 ch
solicitaba

Why the eye confuses solicita with solicitaba

A purely visual mix-up. solicita ([soliˈsit̪a]) and solicitaba ([solisiˈt̪aβ̞a]) 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) - “solicita” sits inside “solicitaba”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38111, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

solicita is recorded at frequency rank #6,121, classified as averb, pronounced [soliˈsit̪a]. solicitaba is at rank #31,990, tagged as averb, pronounced [solisiˈt̪aβ̞a].

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 38111, this pair ranks #171,756 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of solicita vs solicitaba

Shared letters: acilost. Private to "solicita": -. Private to "solicitaba": b.

"solicita" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "solicitaba" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • solicitaoslicita · sloicita · soilcita · solciita · soliccita · soliciat · solicitta · solictia
  • solicitabaoslicitaba · sloicitaba · soilcitaba · solciitaba · soliccitaba · soliciatba · solicitaab · solicitabba

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "solicita" for "solicitaba" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([soliˈsit̪a] versus [solisiˈt̪aβ̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "solicita" or "solicitaba" show up more?
"solicita" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,121 in our Spanish list, against #31,990 for "solicitaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "solicita" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "solicitaba" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #171,756 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "solicita" and "solicitaba" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "solicitaba vs solicitaban". 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 #171,756 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