fichavsfijaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,062
“ficha” frequency rank
#4,710
“fija” frequency rank
10772
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ficha fija
Definition Pieza pequeña, cilíndrica y chata similar a una moneda que tiene valor dentro de un circuito cerrado, como por ejemplo, un casino, un lavedero de autos, una sala de juegos, etc. Herramienta en forma de paleta que sirve para introducir o sacar material de espacios estrechos entre ladrillos, adoquines, columnas, etc.

Where the eye mixes ficha and fija

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
ficha
4 ch
fija

Look-alike desk: ficha vs fija

A purely visual mix-up. ficha ([ˈfit͡ʃa]) and fija ([ˈfixa]) 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 10772, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ficha is recorded at frequency rank #6,062, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfit͡ʃa]. fija is at rank #4,710, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfixa].

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 10772, this pair ranks #297,424 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ficha vs fija

Shared letters: afi. Private to "ficha": ch. Private to "fija": j.

"ficha" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "fija" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fichafciha · fficha · ficah · ficcha · fichha · fihca · ifcha
  • fijaffija · fiaj · fijja · fjia · ifja

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ficha" for "fija" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfit͡ʃa] versus [ˈfixa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "ficha" or "fija" show up more?
"fija" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,710 in our Spanish list, against #6,062 for "ficha". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ficha" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fija" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #297,424 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ficha" and "fija" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fija vs fora". 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 #297,424 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