hachavshampaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#14,609
“hacha” frequency rank
#34,603
“hampa” frequency rank
49212
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hacha hampa
Definition Vela de cera, grande y gruesa, de figura, por lo común, de prisma cuadrangular y con cuatro pabilos. Gente maleante, que se dedica a negocios ilícitos; tipo de vida que practica.

Where the eye mixes hacha and hampa

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. hacha and hampa follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
hacha
5 ch
hampa

Look-alike desk: hacha vs hampa

A purely visual mix-up. hacha ([ˈat͡ʃa]) and hampa ([ˈãmpa]) 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 49212, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hacha is recorded at frequency rank #14,609, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈat͡ʃa]. hampa is at rank #34,603, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈãmpa].

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 49212, this pair ranks #110,103 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hacha vs hampa

Shared letters: ah. Private to "hacha": c. Private to "hampa": mp.

"hacha" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "hampa" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hacha ← ahcha · hacah · haccha · hachha · hahca · hcaha · hhacha
  • hampa ← ahmpa · hamap · hammpa · hamppa · hapma · hhampa · hmapa

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "hacha" and "hampa" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈat͡ʃa] versus [ˈãmpa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "hacha" vs "hampa" - which ranks higher?
"hacha" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,609 in our Spanish list, against #34,603 for "hampa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "hacha" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hampa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #110,103 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hacha" and "hampa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Haifa vs hampa". 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 #110,103 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