alistavsalitasWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#43,963
“alista” frequency rank
#36,915
“alitas” frequency rank
80878
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alista alitas
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de alistar o de alistarse. Forma del plural de alita.

Where the eye mixes alista and alitas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
alista
6 ch
alitas

Why the eye confuses alista with alitas

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: alista is [aˈlist̪a] while alitas is [aˈlit̪as]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80878, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alista is recorded at frequency rank #43,963, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈlist̪a]. alitas is at rank #36,915, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aˈlit̪as].

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 80878, this pair ranks #11,115 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alista vs alitas

Shared letters: ailst. Private to "alista": -. Private to "alitas": -.

"alista" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "alitas" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alistaailsta · alisat · alissta · alistta · allista · alsita · laista
  • alitasailtas · aliats · alitass · alitsa · alittas · allitas · altias · laitas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alista" and "alitas" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "alista" is a verb and "alitas" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "alista" or "alitas"?
"alitas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,915 in our Spanish list, against #43,963 for "alista". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "alista" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alitas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #11,115 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alista" and "alitas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Aliaga vs alista". 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 #11,115 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