compuvscomúnWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#16,792
“compu” frequency rank
#622
“común” frequency rank
17414
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature compu común
Definition Variante de computadora. Compartido por varios.

Where the eye mixes compu and común

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
compu
5 ch
común

Look-alike desk: compu vs común

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: compu is [ˈkõmpu] while común is [koˈmũn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17414, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

compu is recorded at frequency rank #16,792, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkõmpu]. común is at rank #622, tagged as anadj, pronounced [koˈmũn].

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 17414, this pair ranks #272,203 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of compu vs común

Shared letters: cmo. Private to "compu": pu. Private to "común": .

"compu" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "común" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • compuccompu · cmopu · commpu · comppu · comup · copmu · ocmpu

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "compu" for "común" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "compu" is a noun and "común" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "compu" vs "común" - which ranks higher?
"común" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #622 in our Spanish list, against #16,792 for "compu". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "compu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "común" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #272,203 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "compu" and "común" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "comba vs compu". 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 #272,203 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