alegríasvsaveríasWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,255
“alegrías” frequency rank
#33,437
“averías” frequency rank
49692
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alegrías averías
Definition Regocijos y fiestas públicas. Forma del plural de avería.

Where the eye mixes alegrías and averías

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. alegrías runs 8 letters (VCVCCVVC) against averías's 7 (VCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
alegrías
7 ch
averías

Why the eye confuses alegrías with averías

A purely visual mix-up. alegrías ([aleˈɣ̞ɾias]) and averías ([aβ̞eˈɾias]) 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 49692, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alegrías is recorded at frequency rank #16,255, classified as anoun, pronounced [aleˈɣ̞ɾias]. averías is at rank #33,437, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aβ̞eˈɾias].

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 49692, this pair ranks #107,383 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of alegrías vs averías

Shared letters: aersí. Private to "alegrías": gl. Private to "averías": v.

"alegrías" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVVC  ·  "averías" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "alegrías" and "averías" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aleˈɣ̞ɾias] versus [aβ̞eˈɾias]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "alegrías" vs "averías" - which ranks higher?
"alegrías" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,255 in our Spanish list, against #33,437 for "averías". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "alegrías" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "averías" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #107,383 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alegrías" and "averías" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acercas vs averías". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #107,383 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