alcevsaludTell them apart

Which to use

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

#37,936
“alce” frequency rank
#37,942
“alud” frequency rank
75878
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alce alud
Definition (Alces alces) Especie de mamífero artiodáctilo de la familia de los cérvidos. Habitante original de los bosques nórdicos de Europa y Asia. Es cazado especialmente por su carne, la piel y los huesos, así como por deporte. Pueden pesar de 350 hasta 450 kg y tener una altura de 1,50 a 2,15 m. La diferenciación de machos y hembras solo es notada en la falta de astas ya que sus alturas son relativamente iguales. Derrumbe de las nieves de los montes a los valles en gran cantidad y con estrépito.

Where the eye mixes alce and alud

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. alce (VCCV) and alud (VCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
alce
4 ch
alud

Look-alike desk: alce vs alud

A purely visual mix-up. alce ([ˈalse]) and alud ([aˈluð̞]) 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 75878, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alce is recorded at frequency rank #37,936, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈalse]. alud is at rank #37,942, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aˈluð̞].

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 75878, this pair ranks #18,732 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alce vs alud

Shared letters: al. Private to "alce": ce. Private to "alud": du.

"alce" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "alud" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alce ← acle · alcce · alec · allce · alse · lace
  • alud ← aldu · allud · aludd · auld · laud

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alce" and "alud" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈalse] versus [aˈluð̞]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "alce" or "alud"?
"alce" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,936 in our Spanish list, against #37,942 for "alud". 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 "alce" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alud" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #18,732 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alce" and "alud" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alió vs alud". 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 #18,732 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