apelavsapeladoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#25,135
“apela” frequency rank
#43,978
“apelado” frequency rank
69113
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature apela apelado
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de apelar. Participio de apelar.

Where the eye mixes apela and apelado

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

5 ch
apela
7 ch
apelado

Why the eye confuses apela with apelado

A purely visual mix-up. apela ([aˈpela]) and apelado ([apeˈlað̞o]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “apela” sits inside “apelado”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69113, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

apela is recorded at frequency rank #25,135, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈpela]. apelado is at rank #43,978, tagged as averb, pronounced [apeˈlað̞o].

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 69113, this pair ranks #32,801 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of apela vs apelado

Shared letters: aelp. Private to "apela": -. Private to "apelado": do.

"apela" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "apelado" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • apela ← aepla · apeal · apella · aplea · appela · paela
  • apelado ← aeplado · apealdo · apeladdo · apelaod · apeldao · apellado · apleado · appelado

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "apela" for "apelado" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aˈpela] versus [apeˈlað̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "apela" vs "apelado" - which ranks higher?
"apela" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,135 in our Spanish list, against #43,978 for "apelado". 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 "apela" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "apelado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #32,801 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "apela" and "apelado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apelado vs apenado". 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 #32,801 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