alistavsaplastaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#43,963
“alista” frequency rank
#35,348
“aplasta” frequency rank
79311
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes alista and aplasta

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. alista runs 6 letters (VCVCCV) against aplasta's 7 (VCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
alista
7 ch
aplasta

Why the eye confuses alista with aplasta

A purely visual mix-up. alista ([aˈlist̪a]) and aplasta ([aˈplast̪a]) 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 79311, 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]. aplasta is at rank #35,348, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈplast̪a].

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 79311, this pair ranks #13,177 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alista vs aplasta

Shared letters: alst. Private to "alista": i. Private to "aplasta": p.

"alista" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "aplasta" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alistaailsta · alisat · alissta · alistta · allista · alsita · laista
  • aplastaalpasta · apalsta · aplasat · aplassta · aplastta · aplatsa · apllasta · aplsata

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alista" and "aplasta" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aˈlist̪a] versus [aˈplast̪a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "alista" or "aplasta"?
"aplasta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,348 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

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "alista" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aplasta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #13,177 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alista" and "aplasta" 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 #13,177 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