asaltovsasfaltoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,856
“asalto” frequency rank
#13,616
“asfalto” frequency rank
18472
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature asalto asfalto
Definition Delito caracterizado por violencia contra las personas, generalmente con fines de apoderamiento ilegítimo. Fracción pesada del petróleo crudo, actualmente obtenida por destilación. En el pasado se usaron los depósitos naturales del mar Muerto y del lago Asfaltites, lo que le valió el nombre de betún judaico o betún de Judea.

Where the eye mixes asalto and asfalto

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

6 ch
asalto
7 ch
asfalto

Why the eye confuses asalto with asfalto

A purely visual mix-up. asalto ([aˈsal̪t̪o]) and asfalto ([asˈfal̪t̪o]) 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 18472, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

asalto is recorded at frequency rank #4,856, classified as anoun, pronounced [aˈsal̪t̪o]. asfalto is at rank #13,616, tagged as anoun, pronounced [asˈfal̪t̪o].

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 18472, this pair ranks #267,779 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of asalto vs asfalto

Shared letters: alost. Private to "asalto": -. Private to "asfalto": f.

"asalto" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "asfalto" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • asalto ← aaslto · asallto · asalot · asaltto · asatlo · aslato · assalto · saalto
  • asfalto ← afsalto · asaflto · asfallto · asfalot · asfaltto · asfatlo · asffalto · asflato

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "asalto" and "asfalto" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aˈsal̪t̪o] versus [asˈfal̪t̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "asalto" vs "asfalto" - which ranks higher?
"asalto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,856 in our Spanish list, against #13,616 for "asfalto". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "asalto" and "asfalto" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "asalto" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "asfalto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #267,779 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "asalto" and "asfalto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "asfaltado vs asfalto". 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 #267,779 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