alegavsaltaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#18,434
“alega” frequency rank
#667
“alta” frequency rank
19101
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alega alta
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de alegar. En los hospitales, orden informada al enfermo a quien se da por sano, para regresar a su vida normal.

Where the eye mixes alega and alta

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

5 ch
alega
4 ch
alta

Why the eye confuses alega with alta

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: alega is [aˈleɣ̞a] while alta is [ˈal̪t̪a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19101, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alega is recorded at frequency rank #18,434, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈleɣ̞a]. alta is at rank #667, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈal̪t̪a].

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 19101, this pair ranks #265,197 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of alega vs alta

Shared letters: al. Private to "alega": eg. Private to "alta": t.

"alega" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "alta" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alegaaelga · aleag · alegga · algea · allega · laega
  • altaalat · allta · altta · atla

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "alega" for "alta" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "alega" is a verb and "alta" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "alega" vs "alta" - which ranks higher?
"alta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #667 in our Spanish list, against #18,434 for "alega". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "alega" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #265,197 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alega" and "alta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alega vs alegaba". 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 #265,197 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