alertavsaveríaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: alerta is a adjective, avería is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“alerta” is an adjective and “avería” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,378
“alerta” frequency rank
#23,314
“avería” frequency rank
26692
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alerta avería
Definition Adjetivo invariante en género que denota estado de atención o vigilancia. Establecimiento o lugar donde se crían aves o pájaros para el beneficio humano.

Where the eye mixes alerta and avería

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
alerta
6 ch
avería

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: alerta is [aˈleɾt̪a] while avería is [aβ̞eˈɾia]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26692, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alerta is recorded at frequency rank #3,378, classified as anadj, pronounced [aˈleɾt̪a]. avería is at rank #23,314, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aβ̞eˈɾia].

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 26692, this pair ranks #230,421 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of alerta vs avería

Shared letters: aer. Private to "alerta": lt. Private to "avería": .

"alerta" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "avería" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alertaaelrta · alerat · alerrta · alertta · aletra · allerta · alreta · laerta

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alerta" and "avería" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "alerta" is an adjective and "avería" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "alerta" or "avería"?
"alerta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,378 in our Spanish list, against #23,314 for "avería". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list