quillavsquintaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#33,301
“quilla” frequency rank
#3,954
“quinta” frequency rank
37255
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quilla quinta
Definition Viga longitudinal ubicada en la parte del fondo de un barco, que es la base sobre la cual se construye toda su estructura. Finca rural, sobre la cual los arrendatarios pagaban un canon de una quinta₁ parte de la cosecha.

Where the eye mixes quilla and quinta

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. quilla and quinta follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
quilla
6 ch
quinta

Visual trap between quilla and quinta

A purely visual mix-up. quilla ([ˈkiʝa]) and quinta ([ˈkĩn̪t̪a]) 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 37255, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quilla is recorded at frequency rank #33,301, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkiʝa]. quinta is at rank #3,954, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkĩn̪t̪a].

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 37255, this pair ranks #176,250 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of quilla vs quinta

Shared letters: aiqu. Private to "quilla": l. Private to "quinta": nt.

"quilla" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "quinta" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quilla ← qiulla · qquilla · quila · quilal · qulila · uqilla
  • quinta ← qiunta · qquinta · quinat · quinnta · quintta · quitna · qunita · uqinta

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quilla" and "quinta" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkiʝa] versus [ˈkĩn̪t̪a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "quilla" vs "quinta" - which ranks higher?
"quinta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,954 in our Spanish list, against #33,301 for "quilla". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "quilla" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "quinta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #176,250 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "quilla" and "quinta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quilla vs quinua". 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 #176,250 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