sellavsselladoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#34,339
“sella” frequency rank
#16,213
“sellado” frequency rank
50552
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sella sellado
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de sellar. Participio de sellar.

Where the eye mixes sella and sellado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. sella runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against sellado's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
sella
7 ch
sellado

Look-alike desk: sella vs sellado

A purely visual mix-up. sella ([ˈseʝa]) and sellado ([seˈʝað̞o]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “sella” sits inside “sellado”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50552, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sella is recorded at frequency rank #34,339, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈseʝa]. sellado is at rank #16,213, tagged as averb, pronounced [seˈʝað̞o].

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 50552, this pair ranks #102,591 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sella vs sellado

Shared letters: aels. Private to "sella": -. Private to "sellado": do.

"sella" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "sellado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sella ← eslla · selal · slela · ssella
  • sellado ← cellado · esllado · selado · selaldo · selladdo · sellaod · selldao · slelado

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sella" and "sellado" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈseʝa] versus [seˈʝað̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sella" or "sellado"?
"sellado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,213 in our Spanish list, against #34,339 for "sella". 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 "sella" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sellado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #102,591 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sella" and "sellado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sella vs sila". 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 #102,591 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