enteravsexternaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,930
“entera” frequency rank
#5,618
“externa” frequency rank
8548
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature entera externa
Definition Forma del femenino singular de entero. Forma del femenino singular de externo.

Where the eye mixes entera and externa

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

6 ch
entera
7 ch
externa

Visual trap between entera and externa

A purely visual mix-up. entera ([ẽn̪ˈt̪eɾa]) and externa ([eksˈt̪eɾna]) 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 8548, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

entera is recorded at frequency rank #2,930, classified as anadj, pronounced [ẽn̪ˈt̪eɾa]. externa is at rank #5,618, tagged as anadj, pronounced [eksˈt̪eɾna].

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 8548, this pair ranks #304,668 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of entera vs externa

Shared letters: aenrt. Private to "entera": -. Private to "externa": x.

"entera" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "externa" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • enteraenetra · enntera · entear · enterra · entrea · enttera · etnera · netera
  • externaetxerna · exetrna · extenra · exteran · externna · exterrna · extrena · extterna

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "entera" for "externa" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ẽn̪ˈt̪eɾa] versus [eksˈt̪eɾna]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "entera" vs "externa" - which ranks higher?
"entera" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,930 in our Spanish list, against #5,618 for "externa". 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 "entera" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "externa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #304,668 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "entera" and "externa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "entera vs enteraba". 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 #304,668 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