pegvspelaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#49,850
“peg” frequency rank
#21,782
“pela” frequency rank
71632
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature peg pela
Definition Mutación dura del sustantivo masculino beg. Paliza (sucesión de golpes).

Where the eye mixes peg and pela

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. peg runs 3 letters (CVC) against pela's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
peg
4 ch
pela

Why the eye confuses peg with pela

A purely visual mix-up. peg (/ˈpeːk/) and pela ([ˈpela]) 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 71632, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

peg is recorded at frequency rank #49,850, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpeːk/. pela is at rank #21,782, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpela].

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 71632, this pair ranks #27,075 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of peg vs pela

Shared letters: ep. Private to "peg": g. Private to "pela": al.

"peg" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "pela" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pela ← epla · peal · pella · plea · ppela

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "peg" and "pela" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈpeːk/ versus [ˈpela]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "peg" vs "pela" - which ranks higher?
"pela" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,782 in our Spanish list, against #49,850 for "peg". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "peg" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pela" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #27,075 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "peg" and "pela" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peg vs prey". 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 #27,075 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