caídavscalvaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,104
“caída” frequency rank
#29,960
“calva” frequency rank
32064
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caída calva
Definition Acción o efecto de caer. Parte superior de la cabeza de quien ha perdido el cabello.

Where the eye mixes caída and calva

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. caída (CVVCV) and calva (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
caída
5 ch
calva

Visual trap between caída and calva

A purely visual mix-up. caída ([kaˈið̞a]) and calva ([ˈkalβ̞a]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32064, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caída is recorded at frequency rank #2,104, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaˈið̞a]. calva is at rank #29,960, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkalβ̞a].

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 32064, this pair ranks #203,929 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of caída vs calva

Shared letters: ac. Private to "caída": . Private to "calva": lv.

"caída" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "calva" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • calvaaclva · calav · calba · callva · calvva · cavla · ccalva

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "caída" for "calva" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈið̞a] versus [ˈkalβ̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "caída" vs "calva" - which ranks higher?
"caída" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,104 in our Spanish list, against #29,960 for "calva". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "caída" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "calva" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #203,929 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caída" and "calva" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calva vs Cova". 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 #203,929 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