sellavssellarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#34,339
“sella” frequency rank
#23,592
“sellar” frequency rank
57931
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sella sellar
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de sellar. Cocinar un alimento, generalmente una pieza de carne, a fuego muy fuerte durante pocos minutos, de modo que su parte exterior se cueza rápidamente, con el fin de que no pierda sus líquidos, aun cuando su interior quede crudo y deba completarse la cocción, habitualmente en el horno.

Where the eye mixes sella and sellar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. sella runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against sellar's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
sella
6 ch
sellar

Visual trap between sella and sellar

A purely visual mix-up. sella ([ˈseʝa]) and sellar ([seˈʝaɾ]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “sella” sits inside “sellar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57931, 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]. sellar is at rank #23,592, tagged as averb, pronounced [seˈʝaɾ].

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 57931, this pair ranks #68,466 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sella vs sellar

Shared letters: aels. Private to "sella": -. Private to "sellar": r.

"sella" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "sellar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sella ← eslla · selal · slela · ssella
  • sellar ← cellar · esllar · selalr · selar · sellarr · sellra · slelar · ssellar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sella" and "sellar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈseʝa] versus [seˈʝaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "sella" vs "sellar" - which ranks higher?
"sellar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,592 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.

Useful next steps

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 "sellar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #68,466 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sella" and "sellar" 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 #68,466 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