paellavspollaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#26,549
“paella” frequency rank
#8,568
“polla” frequency rank
35117
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature paella polla
Definition Plato cuyos ingredientes básicos son el arroz, el azafrán y el aceite de oliva. Se trata de un sofrito de carne (pollo o conejo), verduras (tomate, judía verde, pimiento), azafrán y aceite, al cual se añade agua y tras un tiempo de cocción, se añade el arroz, continuando la cocción hasta que el arroz absorba todo el caldo. Es típico de Valencia, España, pero tiene numerosas versiones alrededor del mundo. Hembra del pollo.

Where the eye mixes paella and polla

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. paella runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against polla's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
paella
5 ch
polla

Look-alike desk: paella vs polla

A purely visual mix-up. paella ([paˈeʝa]) and polla ([ˈpoʝa]) 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 35117, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

paella is recorded at frequency rank #26,549, classified as anoun, pronounced [paˈeʝa]. polla is at rank #8,568, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpoʝa].

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 35117, this pair ranks #187,781 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of paella vs polla

Shared letters: alp. Private to "paella": e. Private to "polla": o.

"paella" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "polla" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • paella ← paelal · palela · pealla · ppaella
  • polla ← oplla · plola · polal · ppolla

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "paella" and "polla" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([paˈeʝa] versus [ˈpoʝa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "paella" or "polla"?
"polla" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,568 in our Spanish list, against #26,549 for "paella". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "paella" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "polla" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #187,781 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "paella" and "polla" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "paella vs patilla". 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 #187,781 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