quedavsquemaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#437
“queda” frequency rank
#6,348
“quema” frequency rank
6785
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature queda quema
Definition Hora de la noche, señalada en algunos pueblos, especialmente las plazas cerradas, para que todos se recojan, lo cual se avisa con la campana. Acción o efecto de quemar.

Where the eye mixes queda and quema

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

5 ch
queda
5 ch
quema

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. queda ([ˈkeð̞a]) and quema ([ˈkema]) 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 a single letter - d in “queda” becomes m in “quema”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6785, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

queda is recorded at frequency rank #437, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkeð̞a]. quema is at rank #6,348, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkema].

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 6785, this pair ranks #309,798 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of queda vs quema

Shared letters: aequ. Private to "queda": d. Private to "quema": m.

"queda" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "quema" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quedaqeuda · qqueda · qudea · quead · quedda · uqeda
  • quemaqeuma · qquema · queam · quemma · qumea · uqema

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "queda" and "quema" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkeð̞a] versus [ˈkema]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "queda" or "quema"?
"queda" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #437 in our Spanish list, against #6,348 for "quema". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list