Which to use
“tomaba” and “tomará” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,886
- “tomaba” frequency rank
- #9,048
- “tomará” frequency rank
- 17934
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tomaba | tomará |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de tomar o de tomarse. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del futuro de indicativo de tomar o de tomarse. |
Where the eye mixes tomaba and tomará
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: tomaba vs tomará
A purely visual mix-up. tomaba ([t̪oˈmaβ̞a]) and tomará ([t̪omaˈɾa]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17934, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tomaba is recorded at frequency rank #8,886, classified as averb, pronounced [t̪oˈmaβ̞a]. tomará is at rank #9,048, tagged as averb, pronounced [t̪omaˈɾa].
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 17934, this pair ranks #270,007 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tomaba vs tomará
Shared letters: amot. Private to "tomaba": b. Private to "tomará": rá.
"tomaba" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "tomará" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- tomaba ← otmaba · tmoaba · toamba · tomaab · tomabba · tomava · tombaa · tommaba
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tomaba" and "tomará" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "tomaba" or "tomará" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tomaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tomará" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #270,007 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tomaba" and "tomará" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tomará vs tomase". 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 #270,007 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.