Which to use
“al” is a contraction and “aula” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21
- “al” frequency rank
- #7,822
- “aula” frequency rank
- 7843
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | al | aula |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Contracción de la preposición a y el artículo el (masculino singular) Forma obligatoriamente contracta; la forma *a el no está aceptada por la Real Academia. Se utiliza para todos los valores de a. | Sala de una institución educativa, destinada principalmente al dictado de clases. |
Where the eye mixes al and aula
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between al and aula
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: al is [al] while aula is [ˈawla]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (contraction vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
al is recorded at frequency rank #21, classified as acontraction, pronounced [al]. aula is at rank #7,822, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈawla].
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 7843, this pair ranks #306,764 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of al vs aula
Shared letters: al. Private to "al": -. Private to "aula": u.
"al" · 2 letters · shape VC · "aula" · 4 letters · shape VVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- aula ← alua · aual · aulla · uala
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "al" for "aula" ever safe?
Frequency check: "al" vs "aula" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "al" and "aula" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "al" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aula" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #306,764 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "al" and "aula" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anta vs aula". 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 #306,764 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.