atropellavsatropelloWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#39,589
“atropella” frequency rank
#18,448
“atropello” frequency rank
58037
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature atropella atropello
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de atropellar o de atropellarse. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de atropellar o de atropellarse.

Where the eye mixes atropella and atropello

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. atropella and atropello follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
atropella
9 ch
atropello

Look-alike desk: atropella vs atropello

A purely visual mix-up. atropella ([at̪ɾoˈpeʝa]) and atropello ([at̪ɾoˈpeʝo]) 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 a single letter - a in “atropella” becomes o in “atropello”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58037, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

atropella is recorded at frequency rank #39,589, classified as averb, pronounced [at̪ɾoˈpeʝa]. atropello is at rank #18,448, tagged as averb, pronounced [at̪ɾoˈpeʝo].

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 58037, this pair ranks #68,029 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of atropella vs atropello

Shared letters: aeloprt. Private to "atropella": -. Private to "atropello": -.

"atropella" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCCV  ·  "atropello" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • atropella ← artopella · atorpella · atroeplla · atropela · atropelal · atroplela · atroppella · atrpoella
  • atropello ← artopello · atorpello · atroepllo · atropelo · atropelol · atroplelo · atroppello · atrpoello

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "atropella" for "atropello" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([at̪ɾoˈpeʝa] versus [at̪ɾoˈpeʝo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "atropella" or "atropello" show up more?
"atropello" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,448 in our Spanish list, against #39,589 for "atropella". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "atropella" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "atropello" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #68,029 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "atropella" and "atropello" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "atropella vs atropellada". 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 #68,029 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