competenciavscompetenciasTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,440
“competencia” frequency rank
#5,292
“competencias” frequency rank
6732
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature competencia competencias
Definition Rivalidad o controversia que hay entre dos o más personas u organismos sobre algún punto. Ej. (organismos): Estas dos plantas están estableciendo una competencia por la luz. Forma del plural de competencia.

Where the eye mixes competencia and competencias

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence.

11 ch
competencia
12 ch
competencias

Look-alike desk: competencia vs competencias

A purely visual mix-up. competencia ([kõmpeˈt̪ẽnsja]) and competencias ([kõmpeˈt̪ẽnsjas]) 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) - “competencia” sits inside “competencias”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6732, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

competencia is recorded at frequency rank #1,440, classified as anoun, pronounced [kõmpeˈt̪ẽnsja]. competencias is at rank #5,292, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kõmpeˈt̪ẽnsjas].

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 6732, this pair ranks #309,932 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of competencia vs competencias

Shared letters: aceimnopt. Private to "competencia": -. Private to "competencias": s.

"competencia" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCVV  ·  "competencias" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • competenciaccompetencia · cmopetencia · comeptencia · commpetencia · compeetncia · competecnia · competencai · competenccia
  • competenciasccompetencias · cmopetencias · comeptencias · commpetencias · compeetncias · competecnias · competencais · competenccias

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "competencia" and "competencias" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kõmpeˈt̪ẽnsja] versus [kõmpeˈt̪ẽnsjas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "competencia" vs "competencias" - which ranks higher?
"competencia" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,440 in our Spanish list, against #5,292 for "competencias". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "competencia" and "competencias" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "competencia" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "competencias" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #309,932 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • 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 #309,932 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