sacravssalmaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sacra is a adjective, salma is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sacra” is an adjective and “salma” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,242
“sacra” frequency rank
#36,280
“salma” frequency rank
66522
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sacra salma
Definition Forma del femenino singular de sacro. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de salmar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sacra and salma apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
sacra
5 ch
salma

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sacra is [ˈsakɾa] while salma is [ˈsalma]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66522, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sacra is recorded at frequency rank #30,242, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈsakɾa]. salma is at rank #36,280, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈsalma].

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 66522, this pair ranks #39,641 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sacra vs salma

Shared letters: as. Private to "sacra": cr. Private to "salma": lm.

"sacra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "salma" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sacraascra · saccra · sacrra · sarca · scara · ssacra
  • salmaaslma · salam · sallma · salmma · samla · slama · ssalma

Frequency comparison

sacra#30,242
salma#36,280

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sacra" and "salma" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sacra" is an adjective and "salma" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sacra" or "salma"?
"sacra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,242 in our Spanish list, against #36,280 for "salma". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sacra vs salma

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “sacra”; for a verb, it's “salma”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sacra” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list