cordilleravscordillerasTell them apart

Which to use

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

#8,637
“cordillera” frequency rank
#33,507
“cordilleras” frequency rank
42144
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cordillera cordilleras
Definition Sucesión de montañas enlazadas entre sí que se forma cuando una capa de la corteza terrestre se desliza por debajo del borde de otra. Forma del plural de cordillera.

Where the eye mixes cordillera and cordilleras

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. cordillera runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCVCV) against cordilleras's 11 (CVCCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
cordillera
11 ch
cordilleras

Look-alike desk: cordillera vs cordilleras

A purely visual mix-up. cordillera ([koɾð̞iˈʝeɾa]) and cordilleras ([koɾð̞iˈʝeɾas]) 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) - “cordillera” sits inside “cordilleras”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42144, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cordillera is recorded at frequency rank #8,637, classified as anoun, pronounced [koɾð̞iˈʝeɾa]. cordilleras is at rank #33,507, tagged as anoun, pronounced [koɾð̞iˈʝeɾas].

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 42144, this pair ranks #149,859 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cordillera vs cordilleras

Shared letters: acdeilor. Private to "cordillera": -. Private to "cordilleras": s.

"cordillera" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCV  ·  "cordilleras" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cordillera ← ccordillera · codrillera · corddillera · cordilelra · cordilera · cordillear · cordillerra · cordillrea
  • cordilleras ← ccordilleras · codrilleras · corddilleras · cordilelras · cordileras · cordillears · cordillerass · cordillerras

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cordillera" for "cordilleras" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([koɾð̞iˈʝeɾa] versus [koɾð̞iˈʝeɾas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cordillera" or "cordilleras"?
"cordillera" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,637 in our Spanish list, against #33,507 for "cordilleras". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cordillera" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cordilleras" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #149,859 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 #149,859 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