terceravsteteraWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,332
“tercera” frequency rank
#40,569
“tetera” frequency rank
41901
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tercera tetera
Definition Nota que está ubicada a seis semitonos de la tónica (primera de cada escalea) Recipiente para preparar el té y otras infusiones.

Where the eye mixes tercera and tetera

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

7 ch
tercera
6 ch
tetera

Why the eye confuses tercera with tetera

A purely visual mix-up. tercera ([t̪eɾˈseɾa]) and tetera ([t̪eˈt̪eɾa]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41901, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tercera is recorded at frequency rank #1,332, classified as anoun, pronounced [t̪eɾˈseɾa]. tetera is at rank #40,569, tagged as anoun, pronounced [t̪eˈt̪eɾa].

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 41901, this pair ranks #151,171 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tercera vs tetera

Shared letters: aert. Private to "tercera": c. Private to "tetera": -.

"tercera" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "tetera" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tercera ← etrcera · tecrera · terccera · tercear · tercerra · tercrea · terecra · terrcera
  • tetera ← ettera · teetra · tetear · teterra · tetrea · tettera · tteera · ttetera

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tercera" and "tetera" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([t̪eɾˈseɾa] versus [t̪eˈt̪eɾa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tercera" vs "tetera" - which ranks higher?
"tercera" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,332 in our Spanish list, against #40,569 for "tetera". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tercera" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tetera" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #151,171 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tercera" and "tetera" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Tejero vs tetera". 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 #151,171 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