tomabanvstomaríanWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#17,564
“tomaban” frequency rank
#36,330
“tomarían” frequency rank
53894
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tomaban tomarían
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de tomar o de tomarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del condicional de tomar o de tomarse.

Where the eye mixes tomaban and tomarían

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
tomaban
8 ch
tomarían

Visual trap between tomaban and tomarían

A purely visual mix-up. tomaban ([t̪oˈmaβ̞ãn]) and tomarían ([t̪omaˈɾiãn]) 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 53894, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tomaban is recorded at frequency rank #17,564, classified as averb, pronounced [t̪oˈmaβ̞ãn]. tomarían is at rank #36,330, tagged as averb, pronounced [t̪omaˈɾiãn].

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 53894, this pair ranks #85,744 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tomaban vs tomarían

Shared letters: amnot. Private to "tomaban": b. Private to "tomarían": .

"tomaban" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "tomarían" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tomabanotmaban · tmoaban · toamban · tomaabn · tomabann · tomabban · tomabna · tomavan

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tomaban" and "tomarían" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([t̪oˈmaβ̞ãn] versus [t̪omaˈɾiãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tomaban" or "tomarían"?
"tomaban" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,564 in our Spanish list, against #36,330 for "tomarían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "tomaban" and "tomarían" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tomaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tomarían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #85,744 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tomaban" and "tomarían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tocaría vs tomarían". 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 #85,744 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