patavspilaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,869
“pata” frequency rank
#6,716
“pila” frequency rank
12585
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pata pila
Definition Extremidad de los animales utilizada para la locomoción en tierra, que va en número de un único par en las aves y los primates hasta unos 200 pares en los miriápodos de la clase Diplopoda. Funcionalmente similar, es sin embargo evolutivamente muy diferente entre invertebrados y vertebrados. En estos últimos está por lo general dividida claramente en dos secciones, articuladas en la rodilla. Conjunto de cosas puestas unas sobre otras.

Where the eye mixes pata and pila

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
pata
4 ch
pila

Look-alike desk: pata vs pila

A purely visual mix-up. pata ([ˈpat̪a]) and pila ([ˈpila]) 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 12585, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pata is recorded at frequency rank #5,869, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpat̪a]. pila is at rank #6,716, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpila].

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 12585, this pair ranks #291,006 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pata vs pila

Shared letters: ap. Private to "pata": t. Private to "pila": il.

"pata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "pila" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • patapaat · patta · ppata · ptaa
  • pilaipla · pial · plia · ppila

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pata" for "pila" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpat̪a] versus [ˈpila]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pata" vs "pila" - which ranks higher?
"pata" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,869 in our Spanish list, against #6,716 for "pila". 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 "pata" and "pila" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pata" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pila" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #291,006 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pata" and "pila" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pata vs petar". 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 #291,006 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