ladravslarvaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#32,275
“ladra” frequency rank
#32,738
“larva” frequency rank
65013
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ladra larva
Definition El acto de ladrar el perro. Fase juvenil en el desarrollo de los animales con desarrollo indirecto (metamorfosis).

Where the eye mixes ladra and larva

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ladra and larva follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
ladra
5 ch
larva

Why the eye confuses ladra with larva

A purely visual mix-up. ladra ([ˈlað̞ɾa]) and larva ([ˈlaɾβ̞a]) 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 65013, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ladra is recorded at frequency rank #32,275, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlað̞ɾa]. larva is at rank #32,738, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaɾβ̞a].

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 65013, this pair ranks #43,885 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ladra vs larva

Shared letters: alr. Private to "ladra": d. Private to "larva": v.

"ladra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "larva" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ladra ← aldra · ladar · laddra · ladrra · larda · ldara · lladra
  • larva ← alrva · larav · larba · larrva · larvva · llarva · lrava

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ladra" and "larva" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlað̞ɾa] versus [ˈlaɾβ̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ladra" or "larva"?
"ladra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,275 in our Spanish list, against #32,738 for "larva". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ladra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "larva" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #43,885 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ladra" and "larva" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "larva vs Lyra". 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 #43,885 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