agotavsaletaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#21,886
“agota” frequency rank
#17,329
“aleta” frequency rank
39215
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature agota aleta
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de agotar. Cada uno de los miembros aplanados que usan los vertebrados acuáticos para la locomoción.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set agota and aleta apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
agota
5 ch
aleta

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: agota is [aˈɣ̞ot̪a] while aleta is [aˈlet̪a]. 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 39215, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

agota is recorded at frequency rank #21,886, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈɣ̞ot̪a]. aleta is at rank #17,329, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aˈlet̪a].

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 39215, this pair ranks #165,791 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of agota vs aleta

Shared letters: at. Private to "agota": go. Private to "aleta": el.

"agota" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "aleta" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • agotaaggota · agoat · agotta · agtoa · aogta · gaota
  • aletaaelta · aleat · aletta · alleta · altea · laeta

Frequency comparison

agota#21,886
aleta#17,329

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "agota" and "aleta" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "agota" is a verb and "aleta" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "agota" or "aleta"?
"aleta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,329 in our Spanish list, against #21,886 for "agota". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering agota vs aleta

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “agota”; for a noun, it's “aleta”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “agota” 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