cangrejovscangrejosWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#19,049
“cangrejo” frequency rank
#24,765
“cangrejos” frequency rank
43814
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cangrejo cangrejos
Definition Cualquier crustáceo con cinco pares de patas, las dos primeras convertidas en pinzas y hábitos caminadores antes que nadadores. Forma del plural de cangrejo.

Where the eye mixes cangrejo and cangrejos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. cangrejo runs 8 letters (CVCCCVCV) against cangrejos's 9 (CVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
cangrejo
9 ch
cangrejos

Visual trap between cangrejo and cangrejos

A purely visual mix-up. cangrejo ([kãŋˈgɾexo]) and cangrejos ([kãŋˈgɾexos]) 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) - “cangrejo” sits inside “cangrejos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43814, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cangrejo is recorded at frequency rank #19,049, classified as anoun, pronounced [kãŋˈgɾexo]. cangrejos is at rank #24,765, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kãŋˈgɾexos].

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 43814, this pair ranks #140,533 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cangrejo vs cangrejos

Shared letters: acegjnor. Private to "cangrejo": -. Private to "cangrejos": s.

"cangrejo" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV  ·  "cangrejos" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cangrejo ← acngrejo · cagnrejo · cangerjo · canggrejo · cangrejjo · cangreoj · cangrjeo · cangrrejo
  • cangrejos ← acngrejos · cagnrejos · cangerjos · canggrejos · cangrejjos · cangrejoss · cangrejso · cangreojs

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cangrejo" for "cangrejos" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kãŋˈgɾexo] versus [kãŋˈgɾexos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cangrejo" or "cangrejos"?
"cangrejo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,049 in our Spanish list, against #24,765 for "cangrejos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cangrejo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cangrejos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #140,533 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cangrejo" and "cangrejos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cangrejo vs congregó". 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 #140,533 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