abrilvsalfilWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#559
“abril” frequency rank
#42,795
“alfil” frequency rank
43354
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abril alfil
Definition Cuarto mes del año en el calendario gregoriano, entre marzo y mayo. Consta de 30 días. (♗, ♝) Cada una de las cuatro piezas del ajedrez que se mueven únicamente en diagonal.

Where the eye mixes abril and alfil

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
abril
5 ch
alfil

Why the eye confuses abril with alfil

A purely visual mix-up. abril ([aˈβ̞ɾil]) and alfil ([alˈfil]) 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 43354, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abril is recorded at frequency rank #559, classified as anoun, pronounced [aˈβ̞ɾil]. alfil is at rank #42,795, tagged as anoun, pronounced [alˈfil].

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 43354, this pair ranks #143,119 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abril vs alfil

Shared letters: ail. Private to "abril": br. Private to "alfil": f.

"abril" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "alfil" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abrilabbril · abirl · abrill · abrli · abrril · arbil · baril
  • alfilaflil · alffil · alfill · alfli · alifl · allfil · lafil

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abril" and "alfil" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aˈβ̞ɾil] versus [alˈfil]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abril" or "alfil"?
"abril" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #559 in our Spanish list, against #42,795 for "alfil". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abril" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alfil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #143,119 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abril" and "alfil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alfil vs alió". 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 #143,119 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