clínicasvsclínicosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,114
“clínicas” frequency rank
#16,535
“clínicos” frequency rank
26649
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature clínicas clínicos
Definition Forma del femenino plural de clínico. Forma del plural de clínico.

Where the eye mixes clínicas and clínicos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. clínicas and clínicos follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
clínicas
8 ch
clínicos

Why the eye confuses clínicas with clínicos

A purely visual mix-up. clínicas ([ˈklinikas]) and clínicos ([ˈklinikos]) 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 a single letter - a in “clínicas” becomes o in “clínicos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26649, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

clínicas is recorded at frequency rank #10,114, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈklinikas]. 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 26649, this pair ranks #230,619 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of clínicas vs clínicos

Shared letters: cilnsí. Private to "clínicas": a. Private to "clínicos": o.

"clínicas" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC  ·  "clínicos" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "clínicas" and "clínicos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈklinikas] versus [ˈklinikos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "clínicas" or "clínicos"?
"clínicas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,114 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.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "clínicas" 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 #230,619 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "clínicas" and "clínicos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clinical vs clínicos". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #230,619 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