bananavsbananasWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,077
“banana” frequency rank
#29,504
“bananas” frequency rank
43581
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature banana bananas
Definition (Musa acuminata, M. balbisiana, M. x paradisiaca) Grupo de plantas herbáceas, compuesto tanto por híbridos como por cultivares genéticamente puros de algunas especies de Musa, que se cultivan por su fruto, una falsa baya epígina de característica forma falcada consumida como alimento. Se cultivan en más de 130 países, desde el sudeste asiático de donde son nativas, hasta Oceanía y Sudamérica. No son árboles sino megaforbias perennes, con pseudotallo de hasta 7 m de altura y hojas que se cuentan entre las más grandes del reino vegetal. Forma del plural de banana.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set banana and bananas apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
banana
7 ch
bananas

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. banana ([baˈnana]) and bananas ([baˈnanas]) 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) - “banana” sits inside “bananas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43581, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

banana is recorded at frequency rank #14,077, classified as anoun, pronounced [baˈnana]. bananas is at rank #29,504, tagged as anoun, pronounced [baˈnanas].

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 43581, this pair ranks #141,888 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of banana vs bananas

Shared letters: abn. Private to "banana": -. Private to "bananas": s.

"banana" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "bananas" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bananaabnana · baanna · banaan · bananna · bannaa · bannana · bbanana · bnaana
  • bananasabnanas · baannas · banaans · bananass · banannas · banansa · bannaas · bannanas

Frequency comparison

banana#14,077
bananas#29,504

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "banana" and "bananas" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([baˈnana] versus [baˈnanas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "banana" or "bananas"?
"banana" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,077 in our Spanish list, against #29,504 for "bananas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering banana vs bananas

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “banana” 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