selladavssellarWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sellada is a participle, sellar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sellada” is a participle and “sellar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,156
“sellada” frequency rank
#23,592
“sellar” frequency rank
51748
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sellada sellar
Definition Forma del femenino de sellado, participio 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 sellada and sellar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. sellada runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against sellar's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
sellada
6 ch
sellar

Visual trap between sellada and sellar

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sellada is [seˈʝað̞a] while sellar is [seˈʝaɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (participle vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51748, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sellada is recorded at frequency rank #28,156, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [seˈʝað̞a]. 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 51748, this pair ranks #96,270 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sellada vs sellar

Shared letters: aels. Private to "sellada": d. Private to "sellar": r.

"sellada" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "sellar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • selladacellada · esllada · selada · selalda · sellaad · selladda · selldaa · slelada
  • sellarcellar · esllar · selalr · selar · sellarr · sellra · slelar · ssellar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sellada" and "sellar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sellada" is a participle and "sellar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "sellada" 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 #28,156 for "sellada". 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 "sellada" 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 #96,270 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sellada" and "sellar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sellada vs soleada". 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 #96,270 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