abiertavsalientaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: abierta is a noun, alienta is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“abierta” is a noun and “alienta” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,711
“abierta” frequency rank
#20,563
“alienta” frequency rank
22274
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abierta alienta
Definition Acción y efecto de abrir. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de alentar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set abierta and alienta apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
abierta
7 ch
alienta

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: abierta is [aˈβ̞jeɾt̪a] while alienta is [aˈljẽn̪t̪a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22274, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abierta is recorded at frequency rank #1,711, classified as anoun, pronounced [aˈβ̞jeɾt̪a]. alienta is at rank #20,563, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈljẽn̪t̪a].

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 22274, this pair ranks #251,096 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of abierta vs alienta

Shared letters: aeit. Private to "abierta": br. Private to "alienta": ln.

"abierta" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCCV  ·  "alienta" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abiertaabbierta · abeirta · abierat · abierrta · abiertta · abietra · abireta · aiberta
  • alientaailenta · aleinta · alienat · aliennta · alientta · alietna · alineta · allienta

Frequency comparison

abierta#1,711
alienta#20,563

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abierta" and "alienta" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "abierta" is a noun and "alienta" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "abierta" or "alienta"?
"abierta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,711 in our Spanish list, against #20,563 for "alienta". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering abierta vs alienta

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “abierta”; for a verb, it's “alienta”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “abierta” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list