Which to use
“capital” and “capitales” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #465
- “capital” frequency rank
- #5,928
- “capitales” frequency rank
- 6393
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | capital | capitales |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Que pertenece o concierne a la cabeza. | Forma del plural de capital. |
Where the eye mixes capital and capitales
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. capital runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against capitales's 9 (CVCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between capital and capitales
A purely visual mix-up. capital ([kapiˈt̪al]) and capitales ([kapiˈt̪ales]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “capital” sits inside “capitales”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6393, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
capital is recorded at frequency rank #465, classified as anadj, pronounced [kapiˈt̪al]. capitales is at rank #5,928, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kapiˈt̪ales].
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 6393, this pair ranks #310,923 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of capital vs capitales
Shared letters: acilpt. Private to "capital": -. Private to "capitales": es.
"capital" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "capitales" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "capital" for "capitales" ever safe?
Frequency check: "capital" vs "capitales" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "capital" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "capitales" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #310,923 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "capital" and "capitales" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caníbales vs capitales". 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 #310,923 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.