alteradavsaterradaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#18,435
“alterada” frequency rank
#44,565
“aterrada” frequency rank
63000
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alterada aterrada
Definition Forma del femenino de alterado, participio de alterar. Forma del femenino de aterrado, participio de aterrar.

Where the eye mixes alterada and aterrada

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
alterada
8 ch
aterrada

Why the eye confuses alterada with aterrada

A purely visual mix-up. alterada ([al̪t̪eˈɾað̞a]) and aterrada ([at̪eˈrað̞a]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63000, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alterada is recorded at frequency rank #18,435, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [al̪t̪eˈɾað̞a]. aterrada is at rank #44,565, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [at̪eˈrað̞a].

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 63000, this pair ranks #50,170 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alterada vs aterrada

Shared letters: adert. Private to "alterada": l. Private to "aterrada": -.

"alterada" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV  ·  "aterrada" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alteradaaletrada · allterada · altearda · alteraad · alteradda · alterdaa · alterrada · altreada
  • aterradaaetrrada · aterada · aterarda · aterraad · aterradda · aterrdaa · atrerada · atterrada

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alterada" and "aterrada" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([al̪t̪eˈɾað̞a] versus [at̪eˈrað̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "alterada" vs "aterrada" - which ranks higher?
"alterada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,435 in our Spanish list, against #44,565 for "aterrada". 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 "alterada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aterrada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #50,170 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alterada" and "aterrada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aterrada vs aterrados". 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 #50,170 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