empleavsempresaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#7,302
“emplea” frequency rank
#431
“empresa” frequency rank
7733
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature emplea empresa
Definition Empleo o mercaderías en que se gasta el dinero para comerciar. Organismo compuesto por el trabajo y el capital como elementos de la producción, y ocupada en labores industriales, comerciales o de prestación de servicios, con fines de lucro.

Where the eye mixes emplea and empresa

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

6 ch
emplea
7 ch
empresa

Visual trap between emplea and empresa

A purely visual mix-up. emplea ([ẽmˈplea]) and empresa ([ẽmˈpɾesa]) 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 7733, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

emplea is recorded at frequency rank #7,302, classified as anoun, pronounced [ẽmˈplea]. empresa is at rank #431, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ẽmˈpɾesa].

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 7733, this pair ranks #307,099 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of emplea vs empresa

Shared letters: aemp. Private to "emplea": l. Private to "empresa": rs.

"emplea" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVV  ·  "empresa" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • emplea ← emlpea · emmplea · empela · emplae · empllea · empplea · epmlea · meplea
  • empresa ← emmpresa · empersa · emppresa · empreas · empressa · emprresa · emprsea · emrpesa

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "emplea" and "empresa" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ẽmˈplea] versus [ẽmˈpɾesa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "emplea" or "empresa"?
"empresa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #431 in our Spanish list, against #7,302 for "emplea". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "emplea" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "empresa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #307,099 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "emplea" and "empresa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "emplea vs emplee". 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 #307,099 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