canallavscapillaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#20,595
“canalla” frequency rank
#5,927
“capilla” frequency rank
26522
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature canalla capilla
Definition Persona ruin y que actúa sin atender a ninguna moral. Edificio contiguo a una iglesia, o parte integrante de ella, con altar y advocación particular.

Where the eye mixes canalla and capilla

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
canalla
7 ch
capilla

Why the eye confuses canalla with capilla

A purely visual mix-up. canalla ([kaˈnaʝa]) and capilla ([kaˈpiʝa]) 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 26522, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

canalla is recorded at frequency rank #20,595, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaˈnaʝa]. capilla is at rank #5,927, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaˈpiʝa].

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 26522, this pair ranks #231,211 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of canalla vs capilla

Shared letters: acl. Private to "canalla": n. Private to "capilla": ip.

"canalla" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "capilla" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • canallaacnalla · caanlla · canala · canalal · canlala · cannalla · ccanalla · cnaalla
  • capillaacpilla · caiplla · capila · capilal · caplila · cappilla · ccapilla · cpailla

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "canalla" for "capilla" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈnaʝa] versus [kaˈpiʝa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "canalla" or "capilla"?
"capilla" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,927 in our Spanish list, against #20,595 for "canalla". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "canalla" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "capilla" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #231,211 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "canalla" and "capilla" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "canalla vs canillas". 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 #231,211 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