Which to use
“picada” and “picota” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,914
- “picada” frequency rank
- #44,373
- “picota” frequency rank
- 59287
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | picada | picota |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Senda estrecha en los montes, y especialmente el paso en los arroyos por donde sólo se puede cruzar a caballo. | Rollo o columna de piedra o de fábrica, que había a la entrada de algunos lugares, donde se exponían las cabezas de los ajusticiados, o los reos, a la vergüenza. |
Where the eye mixes picada and picota
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. picada and picota follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: picada vs picota
A purely visual mix-up. picada ([piˈkað̞a]) and picota ([piˈkot̪a]) 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 59287, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
picada is recorded at frequency rank #14,914, classified as anoun, pronounced [piˈkað̞a]. picota is at rank #44,373, tagged as anoun, pronounced [piˈkot̪a].
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 59287, this pair ranks #63,201 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of picada vs picota
Shared letters: acip. Private to "picada": d. Private to "picota": ot.
"picada" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "picota" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "picada" and "picota" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "picada" or "picota" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "picada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "picota" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #63,201 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "picada" and "picota" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pacta vs picota". 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 #63,201 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.