alcantarilladovsalcantarillasTell them apart

Which to use

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

#18,733
“alcantarillado” frequency rank
#29,466
“alcantarillas” frequency rank
48199
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alcantarillado alcantarillas
Definition Sistema de estructuras y tuberías para recoger y conducir aguas, en particular las residuales y pluviales. Forma del plural de alcantarilla.

Where the eye mixes alcantarillado and alcantarillas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. alcantarillado runs 14 letters (VCCVCCVCVCCVCV) against alcantarillas's 13 (VCCVCCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

14 ch
alcantarillado
13 ch
alcantarillas

Why the eye confuses alcantarillado with alcantarillas

A purely visual mix-up. alcantarillado ([alkãn̪t̪aɾiˈʝað̞o]) and alcantarillas ([alkãn̪t̪aˈɾiʝas]) 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 48199, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alcantarillado is recorded at frequency rank #18,733, classified as anoun, pronounced [alkãn̪t̪aɾiˈʝað̞o]. alcantarillas is at rank #29,466, tagged as anoun, pronounced [alkãn̪t̪aˈɾiʝas].

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 48199, this pair ranks #115,808 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of alcantarillado vs alcantarillas

Shared letters: acilnrt. Private to "alcantarillado": do. Private to "alcantarillas": s.

"alcantarillado" · 14 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCCVCV  ·  "alcantarillas" · 13 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alcantarilladoaclantarillado · alacntarillado · alcanatrillado · alcanntarillado · alcantairllado · alcantarilado · alcantarilaldo · alcantarilladdo
  • alcantarillasaclantarillas · alacntarillas · alcanatrillas · alcanntarillas · alcantairllas · alcantarilals · alcantarilas · alcantarillass

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "alcantarillado" for "alcantarillas" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([alkãn̪t̪aɾiˈʝað̞o] versus [alkãn̪t̪aˈɾiʝas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "alcantarillado" or "alcantarillas"?
"alcantarillado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,733 in our Spanish list, against #29,466 for "alcantarillas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "alcantarillado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alcantarillas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #115,808 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alcantarillado" and "alcantarillas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alcantarilla vs alcantarillas". 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 #115,808 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