Which to use
“costilla” and “costillas” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,283
- “costilla” frequency rank
- #13,427
- “costillas” frequency rank
- 34710
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | costilla | costillas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Hueso largo y curvo que da forma y estructura al tórax | Forma del plural de costilla. |
Where the eye mixes costilla and costillas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. costilla runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCV) against costillas's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses costilla with costillas
A purely visual mix-up. costilla ([kosˈt̪iʝa]) and costillas ([kosˈt̪iʝas]) 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) - “costilla” sits inside “costillas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34710, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
costilla is recorded at frequency rank #21,283, classified as anoun, pronounced [kosˈt̪iʝa]. costillas is at rank #13,427, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kosˈt̪iʝas].
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 34710, this pair ranks #189,988 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of costilla vs costillas
Shared letters: acilost. Private to "costilla": -. Private to "costillas": -.
"costilla" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV · "costillas" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "costilla" for "costillas" ever safe?
Frequency check: "costilla" vs "costillas" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "costilla" and "costillas" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "costilla" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "costillas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #189,988 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "costilla" and "costillas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "colillas vs costillas". 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 #189,988 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.