teteravstoleraWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#40,569
“tetera” frequency rank
#23,622
“tolera” frequency rank
64191
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tetera tolera
Definition Recipiente para preparar el té y otras infusiones. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de tolerar.

Where the eye mixes tetera and tolera

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. tetera and tolera follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
tetera
6 ch
tolera

Why the eye confuses tetera with tolera

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tetera is [t̪eˈt̪eɾa] while tolera is [t̪oˈleɾa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64191, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tetera is recorded at frequency rank #40,569, classified as anoun, pronounced [t̪eˈt̪eɾa]. tolera is at rank #23,622, tagged as averb, pronounced [t̪oˈleɾa].

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 64191, this pair ranks #46,340 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tetera vs tolera

Shared letters: aert. Private to "tetera": -. Private to "tolera": lo.

"tetera" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "tolera" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tetera ← ettera · teetra · tetear · teterra · tetrea · tettera · tteera · ttetera
  • tolera ← otlera · tloera · toelra · tolear · tollera · tolrea · ttolera

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tetera" and "tolera" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tetera" is a noun and "tolera" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tetera" or "tolera"?
"tolera" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,622 in our Spanish list, against #40,569 for "tetera". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "tetera" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tolera" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #46,340 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tetera" and "tolera" 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 #46,340 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