aldeavsaleTell them apart

Which to use

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

#3,976
“aldea” frequency rank
#15,530
“ale” frequency rank
19506
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aldea ale
Definition Pueblo con poca población y, por lo general, sin leyes propias. Cerveza de cebada, típica de las islas británicas, de color más oscuro, sabor más intenso y mayor graduación alcohólica que la cerveza rubia o lager.

Where the eye mixes aldea and ale

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
aldea
3 ch
ale

Why the eye confuses aldea with ale

A purely visual mix-up. aldea ([al̪ˈd̪ea]) and ale ([ˈeɪ.l̩]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19506, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aldea is recorded at frequency rank #3,976, classified as anoun, pronounced [al̪ˈd̪ea]. ale is at rank #15,530, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈeɪ.l̩].

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 19506, this pair ranks #263,448 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of aldea vs ale

Shared letters: ael. Private to "aldea": d. Private to "ale": -.

"aldea" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV  ·  "ale" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aldeaadlea · aldae · alddea · aleda · alldea · ladea

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "aldea" and "ale" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([al̪ˈd̪ea] versus [ˈeɪ.l̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "aldea" vs "ale" - which ranks higher?
"aldea" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,976 in our Spanish list, against #15,530 for "ale". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aldea" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ale" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #263,448 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aldea" and "ale" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ale vs alió". 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 #263,448 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