esferavsesféricaWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: esfera is a noun, esférica is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“esfera” is a noun and “esférica” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,056
“esfera” frequency rank
#41,342
“esférica” frequency rank
47398
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature esfera esférica
Definition Cuerpo limitado por una superficie curva cuyos puntos están todos a la misma distancia del punto interior llamado centro. Forma del femenino singular de esférico.

Where the eye mixes esfera and esférica

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. esfera runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against esférica's 8 (VCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
esfera
8 ch
esférica

Visual trap between esfera and esférica

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: esfera is [esˈfeɾa] while esférica is [esˈfeɾika]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47398, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

esfera is recorded at frequency rank #6,056, classified as anoun, pronounced [esˈfeɾa]. esférica is at rank #41,342, tagged as anadj, pronounced [esˈfeɾika].

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 47398, this pair ranks #120,267 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of esfera vs esférica

Shared letters: aefrs. Private to "esfera": -. Private to "esférica": cié.

"esfera" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "esférica" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • esfera ← efsera · esefra · esfear · esferra · esffera · esfrea · essfera · sefera

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "esfera" for "esférica" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "esfera" is a noun and "esférica" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "esfera" or "esférica"?
"esfera" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,056 in our Spanish list, against #41,342 for "esférica". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "esfera" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "esférica" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #120,267 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "esfera" and "esférica" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "esférica vs esférico". 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 #120,267 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