alegríavsalergiaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,146
“alegría” frequency rank
#15,267
“alergia” frequency rank
17413
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alegría alergia
Definition Sensación de contento que se produce debido a algo agradable. Reacción de defensa exagerada del organismo en contra de diversas sustancias extrañas a él (alérgenos) introducidas por inhalación, ingestion, inyección o contacto con la piel, aun en cantidades mínimas, que pueden consistir en medicamentos (como la penicilina), alimentos (como el huevo), polen o algún producto químico. Esta reacción se manifiesta con síntomas respiratorios, cutáneos o nerviosos, y en casos extremos, puede ser mortal.

Where the eye mixes alegría and alergia

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. alegría and alergia follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
alegría
7 ch
alergia

Visual trap between alegría and alergia

A purely visual mix-up. alegría ([aleˈɣ̞ɾia]) and alergia ([aˈleɾxja]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17413, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alegría is recorded at frequency rank #2,146, classified as anoun, pronounced [aleˈɣ̞ɾia]. alergia is at rank #15,267, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aˈleɾxja].

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 17413, this pair ranks #272,208 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of alegría vs alergia

Shared letters: aeglr. Private to "alegría": í. Private to "alergia": i.

"alegría" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVV  ·  "alergia" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alergia ← aelrgia · alegria · alergai · alerggia · aleriga · alerrgia · allergia · alregia

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alegría" and "alergia" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aleˈɣ̞ɾia] versus [aˈleɾxja]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "alegría" or "alergia" show up more?
"alegría" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,146 in our Spanish list, against #15,267 for "alergia". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "alegría" and "alergia" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "alegría" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alergia" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #272,208 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alegría" and "alergia" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alergia vs alexia". 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 #272,208 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