votabanvsvotaronWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#48,757
“votaban” frequency rank
#7,940
“votaron” frequency rank
56697
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature votaban votaron
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de votar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de votar.

Where the eye mixes votaban and votaron

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. votaban and votaron follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
votaban
7 ch
votaron

Visual trap between votaban and votaron

A purely visual mix-up. votaban ([boˈt̪aβ̞ãn]) and votaron ([boˈt̪aɾõn]) 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 56697, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

votaban is recorded at frequency rank #48,757, classified as averb, pronounced [boˈt̪aβ̞ãn]. votaron is at rank #7,940, tagged as averb, pronounced [boˈt̪aɾõn].

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 56697, this pair ranks #73,506 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of votaban vs votaron

Shared letters: anotv. Private to "votaban": b. Private to "votaron": r.

"votaban" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "votaron" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • votaban ← botaban · ovtaban · voatban · votaabn · votabann · votabban · votabna · votavan
  • votaron ← botaron · ovtaron · voatron · votaorn · votarno · votaronn · votarron · votraon

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "votaban" for "votaron" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([boˈt̪aβ̞ãn] versus [boˈt̪aɾõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "votaban" or "votaron"?
"votaron" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,940 in our Spanish list, against #48,757 for "votaban". 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 "votaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "votaron" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #73,506 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "votaban" and "votaron" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "volaban vs votaban". 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 #73,506 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