alabarvsaplacarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#27,841
“alabar” frequency rank
#35,347
“aplacar” frequency rank
63188
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alabar aplacar
Definition Expresar una valoración positiva o celebrar las bondades de alguien o algo, generalmente con palabras. Calmar o apaciguar el ánimo violento o excitado de una persona o grupo.

Where the eye mixes alabar and aplacar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. alabar runs 6 letters (VCVCVC) against aplacar's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
alabar
7 ch
aplacar

Why the eye confuses alabar with aplacar

A purely visual mix-up. alabar ([alaˈβ̞aɾ]) and aplacar ([aplaˈkaɾ]) 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 63188, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alabar is recorded at frequency rank #27,841, classified as averb, pronounced [alaˈβ̞aɾ]. aplacar is at rank #35,347, tagged as averb, pronounced [aplaˈkaɾ].

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 63188, this pair ranks #49,536 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alabar vs aplacar

Shared letters: alr. Private to "alabar": b. Private to "aplacar": cp.

"alabar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "aplacar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alabar ← aalbar · alaabr · alabarr · alabbar · alabra · alavar · albaar · allabar
  • aplacar ← alpacar · apalcar · aplaacr · aplacarr · aplaccar · aplacra · aplcaar · apllacar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "alabar" and "aplacar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([alaˈβ̞aɾ] versus [aplaˈkaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "alabar" or "aplacar"?
"alabar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,841 in our Spanish list, against #35,347 for "aplacar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "alabar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aplacar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #49,536 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alabar" and "aplacar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aplacar vs atracar". 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 #49,536 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