abravsalaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,943
“abra” frequency rank
#3,894
“ala” frequency rank
11837
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abra ala
Definition Entrada de mar en tierra, de menor proporción que una bahía, que ofrece resguardo para que los buques puedan fondear en ella. Las alas son extremidades o apéndices que poseen algunos grupos de animales, normalmente utilizan estas alas para poder volar.

Where the eye mixes abra and ala

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
abra
3 ch
ala

Look-alike desk: abra vs ala

A purely visual mix-up. abra ([ˈaβ̞ɾa]) and ala ([ˈala]) 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 11837, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abra is recorded at frequency rank #7,943, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaβ̞ɾa]. ala is at rank #3,894, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈala].

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 11837, this pair ranks #293,689 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of abra vs ala

Shared letters: a. Private to "abra": br. Private to "ala": l.

"abra" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "ala" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abraabar · abbra · arba · avra

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "abra" and "ala" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaβ̞ɾa] versus [ˈala]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abra" or "ala"?
"ala" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,894 in our Spanish list, against #7,943 for "abra". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "abra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ala" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #293,689 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abra" and "ala" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abra vs abrace". 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 #293,689 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