alegríavsalegríasConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,146
“alegría” frequency rank
#16,255
“alegrías” frequency rank
18401
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alegría alegrías
Definition Sensación de contento que se produce debido a algo agradable. Regocijos y fiestas públicas.

Where the eye mixes alegría and alegrías

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. alegría runs 7 letters (VCVCCVV) against alegrías's 8 (VCVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
alegría
8 ch
alegrías

Why the eye confuses alegría with alegrías

A purely visual mix-up. alegría ([aleˈɣ̞ɾia]) and alegrías ([aleˈɣ̞ɾias]) 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) - “alegría” sits inside “alegrías”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18401, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alegría is recorded at frequency rank #2,146, classified as anoun, pronounced [aleˈɣ̞ɾia]. alegrías is at rank #16,255, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aleˈɣ̞ɾias].

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 18401, this pair ranks #268,075 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of alegría vs alegrías

Shared letters: aeglrí. Private to "alegría": -. Private to "alegrías": s.

"alegría" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVV  ·  "alegrías" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "alegría" for "alegrías" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aleˈɣ̞ɾia] versus [aleˈɣ̞ɾias]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "alegría" vs "alegrías" - which ranks higher?
"alegría" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,146 in our Spanish list, against #16,255 for "alegrías". 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 "alegría" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alegrías" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #268,075 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alegría" and "alegrías" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alegraría vs alegría". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #268,075 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