sellarvssillaWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#23,592
“sellar” frequency rank
#3,082
“silla” frequency rank
26674
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sellar silla
Definition 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. Mueble para sentarse que tiene respaldo.

Where the eye mixes sellar and silla

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
sellar
5 ch
silla

Why the eye confuses sellar with silla

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sellar is [seˈʝaɾ] while silla is [ˈsiʝa]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26674, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sellar is recorded at frequency rank #23,592, classified as averb, pronounced [seˈʝaɾ]. silla is at rank #3,082, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsiʝa].

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 26674, this pair ranks #230,495 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sellar vs silla

Shared letters: als. Private to "sellar": er. Private to "silla": i.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sellarcellar · esllar · selalr · selar · sellarr · sellra · slelar · ssellar
  • sillacilla · silal · slila · ssilla

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sellar" and "silla" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sellar" is a verb and "silla" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "sellar" or "silla" show up more?
"silla" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,082 in our Spanish list, against #23,592 for "sellar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sellar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "silla" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #230,495 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sellar" and "silla" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sellar vs silbar". 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 #230,495 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