clínicavsclínicosWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: clínica is a noun, clínicos is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#4,142
“clínica” frequency rank
#16,535
“clínicos” frequency rank
20677
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature clínica clínicos
Definition Parte de la medicina que enseña a observar y curar las enfermedades a la cabecera de los enfermos. Forma del plural de clínico.

Where the eye mixes clínica and clínicos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. clínica runs 7 letters (CCVCVCV) against clínicos's 8 (CCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
clínica
8 ch
clínicos

Visual trap between clínica and clínicos

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: clínica is [ˈklinika] while clínicos is [ˈklinikos]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20677, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

clínica is recorded at frequency rank #4,142, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈklinika]. clínicos is at rank #16,535, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈklinikos].

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 20677, this pair ranks #258,291 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of clínica vs clínicos

Shared letters: cilní. Private to "clínica": a. Private to "clínicos": os.

"clínica" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "clínicos" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "clínica" and "clínicos" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "clínica" is a noun and "clínicos" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "clínica" or "clínicos" show up more?
"clínica" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,142 in our Spanish list, against #16,535 for "clínicos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "clínica" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "clínicos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #258,291 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "clínica" and "clínicos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clinical vs clínicos". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #258,291 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