compañeravscompañeroWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,313
“compañera” frequency rank
#1,629
“compañero” frequency rank
5942
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature compañera compañero
Definition Forma del femenino singular de compañero. Individuo que acompaña o da compañía a una persona o animal.

Where the eye mixes compañera and compañero

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. compañera and compañero follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
compañera
9 ch
compañero

Look-alike desk: compañera vs compañero

A purely visual mix-up. compañera ([kõmpaˈɲeɾa]) and compañero ([kõmpaˈɲeɾo]) 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 “compañera” becomes o in “compañero”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5942, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

compañera is recorded at frequency rank #4,313, classified as anoun, pronounced [kõmpaˈɲeɾa]. compañero is at rank #1,629, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kõmpaˈɲeɾo].

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 5942, this pair ranks #312,229 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of compañera vs compañero

Shared letters: acemoprñ. Private to "compañera": -. Private to "compañero": -.

"compañera" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV  ·  "compañero" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "compañera" and "compañero" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kõmpaˈɲeɾa] versus [kõmpaˈɲeɾo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "compañera" or "compañero" show up more?
"compañero" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,629 in our Spanish list, against #4,313 for "compañera". 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 "compañera" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "compañero" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #312,229 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "compañera" and "compañero" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "compañero vs comparo". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #312,229 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