adolescentevsadolescentesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,297
“adolescente” frequency rank
#3,975
“adolescentes” frequency rank
8272
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature adolescente adolescentes
Definition Que se encuentra en la etapa de rápido crecimiento posterior a la pubertad y anterior a la madurez. Forma del plural de adolescente.

Where the eye mixes adolescente and adolescentes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. adolescente runs 11 letters (VCVCVCCVCCV) against adolescentes's 12 (VCVCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
adolescente
12 ch
adolescentes

Visual trap between adolescente and adolescentes

A purely visual mix-up. adolescente ([að̞oleˈsẽn̪t̪e]) and adolescentes ([að̞oleˈsẽn̪t̪es]) 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) - “adolescente” sits inside “adolescentes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8272, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

adolescente is recorded at frequency rank #4,297, classified as anadj, pronounced [að̞oleˈsẽn̪t̪e]. adolescentes is at rank #3,975, tagged as anadj, pronounced [að̞oleˈsẽn̪t̪es].

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 8272, this pair ranks #305,508 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of adolescente vs adolescentes

Shared letters: acdelnost. Private to "adolescente": -. Private to "adolescentes": -.

"adolescente" · 11 letters · shape VCVCVCCVCCV  ·  "adolescentes" · 12 letters · shape VCVCVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • adolescente ← addolescente · adloescente · adoelscente · adolecsente · adolesccente · adolescenet · adolescennte · adolescentte
  • adolescentes ← addolescentes · adloescentes · adoelscentes · adolecsentes · adolesccentes · adolescenets · adolescenntes · adolescentess

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "adolescente" for "adolescentes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([að̞oleˈsẽn̪t̪e] versus [að̞oleˈsẽn̪t̪es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "adolescente" or "adolescentes" show up more?
"adolescentes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,975 in our Spanish list, against #4,297 for "adolescente". 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 "adolescente" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "adolescentes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #305,508 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • 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 #305,508 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