quintavsquinuaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#3,954
“quinta” frequency rank
#38,916
“quinua” frequency rank
42870
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quinta quinua
Definition Finca rural, sobre la cual los arrendatarios pagaban un canon de una quinta₁ parte de la cosecha. (Chenopodium quinoa) Planta anual, de tallo erecto, que puede medir hasta 3 m de altura. Las hojas, alternas, son anchas y polimorfas; el tallo central puede estar más o menos ramificado, dependiendo de la variedad o densidad del sembrado. Las flores, organizadas en panículas, son pequeñas y carecen de pétalos.

Where the eye mixes quinta and quinua

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. quinta (CVVCCV) and quinua (CVVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
quinta
6 ch
quinua

Look-alike desk: quinta vs quinua

A purely visual mix-up. quinta ([ˈkĩn̪t̪a]) and quinua ([ˈkinwa]) 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 - t in “quinta” becomes u in “quinua”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42870, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quinta is recorded at frequency rank #3,954, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkĩn̪t̪a]. quinua is at rank #38,916, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkinwa].

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 42870, this pair ranks #145,835 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of quinta vs quinua

Shared letters: ainqu. Private to "quinta": t. Private to "quinua": -.

"quinta" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "quinua" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quinta ← qiunta · qquinta · quinat · quinnta · quintta · quitna · qunita · uqinta
  • quinua ← qiunua · qquinua · quinau · quinnua · quiuna · quniua · uqinua

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "quinta" for "quinua" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkĩn̪t̪a] versus [ˈkinwa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "quinta" vs "quinua" - which ranks higher?
"quinta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,954 in our Spanish list, against #38,916 for "quinua". 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 "quinta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "quinua" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #145,835 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "quinta" and "quinua" 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 #145,835 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