scalavssmallWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: scala is a noun, small is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“scala” is a noun and “small” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,908
“scala” frequency rank
#13,024
“small” frequency rank
37932
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature scala small
Definition die Skala klein

Letter map: scala vs small

Shared letters muted; letters that set scala and small apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
scala
5 ch
small

Part-of-speech tell for scala / small

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: scala is anoun and smallanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37932, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

scala is recorded at frequency rank #24,908, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. small is at rank #13,024, tagged as anadj, pronounced [smɔːl].

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 37932, this pair ranks #1,577,333 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of scala vs small

Shared letters: als. Private to "scala": c. Private to "small": m.

"scala" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "small" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • scalacsala · sacla · scaal · scalla · sccala · sclaa · sscala
  • smallmsall · samll · smal · smlal · smmall · ssmall

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "scala" and "small" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "scala" is a noun and "small" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "scala" vs "small" - which ranks higher?
"small" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,024 in our German list, against #24,908 for "scala". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "scala" and "small".

  • Full dictionary entry for "scala" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "small" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,577,333 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "scala" and "small" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs scala". 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 #1,577,333 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list