alcohólicovsalcohólicosWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: alcohólico is a adjective, alcohólicos is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“alcohólico” is an adjective and “alcohólicos” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,214
“alcohólico” frequency rank
#31,193
“alcohólicos” frequency rank
52407
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alcohólico alcohólicos
Definition Que contiene alcohol o está hecho de él. Ejemplo: Bebida alcohólica. Forma del plural de alcohólico.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set alcohólico and alcohólicos apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
alcohólico
11 ch
alcohólicos

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: alcohólico is [alkoˈoliko] while alcohólicos is [alkoˈolikos]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “alcohólico” sits inside “alcohólicos”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52407, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alcohólico is recorded at frequency rank #21,214, classified as anadj, pronounced [alkoˈoliko]. alcohólicos is at rank #31,193, tagged as anoun, pronounced [alkoˈolikos].

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 52407, this pair ranks #92,851 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of alcohólico vs alcohólicos

Shared letters: achiloó. Private to "alcohólico": -. Private to "alcohólicos": s.

"alcohólico" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCV  ·  "alcohólicos" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

alcohólico#21,214
alcohólicos#31,193

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alcohólico" and "alcohólicos" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "alcohólico" is an adjective and "alcohólicos" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "alcohólico" or "alcohólicos"?
"alcohólico" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,214 in our Spanish list, against #31,193 for "alcohólicos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering alcohólico vs alcohólicos

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “alcohólico”; for a noun, it's “alcohólicos”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “alcohólico” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list