aquellavsaquelloWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: aquella is a unknown, aquello is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“aquella” is an unknown and “aquello” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,800
“aquella” frequency rank
#2,591
“aquello” frequency rank
4391
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aquella aquello
Definition Forma del femenino de aquel. Se refiere a algo que está lejos, en el espacio o en el tiempo, de la persona que habla y de la persona con quien se habla.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set aquella and aquello apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
aquella
7 ch
aquello

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aquella is [aˈkeʝa] while aquello is [aˈkeʝo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “aquella” becomes o in “aquello”, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4391, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aquella is recorded at frequency rank #1,800, classified as anunknown, pronounced [aˈkeʝa]. aquello is at rank #2,591, tagged as apron, pronounced [aˈkeʝo].

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 4391, this pair ranks #316,210 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of aquella vs aquello

Shared letters: aelqu. Private to "aquella": -. Private to "aquello": o.

"aquella" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCCV  ·  "aquello" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aquellaaqeulla · aqquella · aquela · aquelal · aqulela · auqella · qauella
  • aquelloaqeullo · aqquello · aquelo · aquelol · aqulelo · auqello · qauello

Frequency comparison

aquella#1,800
aquello#2,591

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aquella" and "aquello" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "aquella" is an unknown and "aquello" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "aquella" or "aquello"?
"aquella" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,800 in our Spanish list, against #2,591 for "aquello". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering aquella vs aquello

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an unknown, it's “aquella”; for a pronoun, it's “aquello”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “aquella” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list