caladavsclavadaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#45,176
“calada” frequency rank
#28,684
“clavada” frequency rank
73860
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature calada clavada
Definition Acción y efecto de calar. Acción o efecto de clavar.

Where the eye mixes calada and clavada

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. calada runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against clavada's 7 (CCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
calada
7 ch
clavada

Why the eye confuses calada with clavada

A purely visual mix-up. calada ([kaˈlað̞a]) and clavada ([klaˈβ̞að̞a]) 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 73860, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

calada is recorded at frequency rank #45,176, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaˈlað̞a]. clavada is at rank #28,684, tagged as anoun, pronounced [klaˈβ̞að̞a].

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 73860, this pair ranks #22,449 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of calada vs clavada

Shared letters: acdl. Private to "calada": -. Private to "clavada": v.

"calada" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "clavada" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • calada ← aclada · caalda · calaad · caladda · caldaa · ccalada · claada
  • clavada ← calvada · cclavada · claavda · clabada · clavaad · clavadda · clavdaa · clavvada

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "calada" for "clavada" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈlað̞a] versus [klaˈβ̞að̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "calada" vs "clavada" - which ranks higher?
"clavada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,684 in our Spanish list, against #45,176 for "calada". 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 "calada" and "clavada" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "calada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "clavada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #22,449 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "calada" and "clavada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calada vs carnada". 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 #22,449 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