aferravsalegraWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#32,055
“aferra” frequency rank
#4,968
“alegra” frequency rank
37023
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aferra alegra
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de aferrar o de aferrarse. Especie de barrena para taladrar las bombas.

Where the eye mixes aferra and alegra

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. aferra and alegra follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
aferra
6 ch
alegra

Why the eye confuses aferra with alegra

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aferra is [aˈfera] while alegra is [aˈleɣ̞ɾa]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37023, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aferra is recorded at frequency rank #32,055, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈfera]. alegra is at rank #4,968, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aˈleɣ̞ɾa].

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 37023, this pair ranks #177,545 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aferra vs alegra

Shared letters: aer. Private to "aferra": f. Private to "alegra": gl.

"aferra" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "alegra" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aferra ← aefrra · afera · aferar · afferra · afrera · faerra
  • alegra ← aelgra · aleggra · alegrra · alerga · algera · allegra · laegra

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "aferra" and "alegra" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "aferra" is a verb and "alegra" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "aferra" vs "alegra" - which ranks higher?
"alegra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,968 in our Spanish list, against #32,055 for "aferra". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "aferra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alegra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #177,545 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aferra" and "alegra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aferra vs amarra". 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 #177,545 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