alejasvsaletaTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#40,626
“alejas” frequency rank
#17,329
“aleta” frequency rank
57955
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alejas aleta
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de alejar o de alejarse. Cada uno de los miembros aplanados que usan los vertebrados acuáticos para la locomoción.

Where the eye mixes alejas and aleta

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. alejas runs 6 letters (VCVCVC) against aleta's 5 (VCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
alejas
5 ch
aleta

Why the eye confuses alejas with aleta

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: alejas is [aˈlexas] while aleta is [aˈlet̪a]. 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 57955, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alejas is recorded at frequency rank #40,626, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈlexas]. aleta is at rank #17,329, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aˈlet̪a].

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 57955, this pair ranks #68,370 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alejas vs aleta

Shared letters: ael. Private to "alejas": js. Private to "aleta": t.

"alejas" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "aleta" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alejas ← aeljas · aleajs · alejass · alejjas · alejsa · aljeas · allejas · laejas
  • aleta ← aelta · aleat · aletta · alleta · altea · laeta

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alejas" and "aleta" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "alejas" is a verb and "aleta" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "alejas" or "aleta"?
"aleta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,329 in our Spanish list, against #40,626 for "alejas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "alejas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aleta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #68,370 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alejas" and "aleta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alejas vs almenas". 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 #68,370 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