patatavsplataTell them apart

Which to use

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

#16,664
“patata” frequency rank
#754
“plata” frequency rank
17418
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature patata plata
Definition (Solanum tuberosum) Planta herbácea, caducifolia, de la familia de las solanáceas, de tallo erecto o decumbente de hasta 1 m de largo, hojas imparipinnadas, de foliolos lanceolados, pilosas, y flores en inflorescencias terminales racemosas, de pétalos fusionados de color blanco a púrpura, que fructifican en pequeñas bayas. Se la aprecia por los tubérculos que produce su sistema radical, muy usados en gastronomía. Elemento químico de número atómico 47 situado en el grupo 11 de la tabla periódica de los elementos. Su símbolo es Ag. Es un metal de transición blanco y brillante. Presenta las mayores conductividades térmica y eléctrica de todos los metales, y se encuentra formando parte de distintos minerales (generalmente en forma de sulfuro) o como plata libre.

Where the eye mixes patata and plata

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
patata
5 ch
plata

Look-alike desk: patata vs plata

A purely visual mix-up. patata ([paˈt̪at̪a]) and plata ([ˈplat̪a]) 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 17418, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

patata is recorded at frequency rank #16,664, classified as anoun, pronounced [paˈt̪at̪a]. plata is at rank #754, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈplat̪a].

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 17418, this pair ranks #272,187 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of patata vs plata

Shared letters: apt. Private to "patata": -. Private to "plata": l.

"patata" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "plata" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • patataaptata · paatta · pataat · patatta · pattaa · pattata · ppatata · ptaata
  • platalpata · plaat · platta · pllata · pltaa · pplata

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "patata" for "plata" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([paˈt̪at̪a] versus [ˈplat̪a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "patata" vs "plata" - which ranks higher?
"plata" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #754 in our Spanish list, against #16,664 for "patata". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "patata" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "plata" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #272,187 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "patata" and "plata" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pacta vs patata". 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 #272,187 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