desastrevsdesastresWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,337
“desastre” frequency rank
#8,939
“desastres” frequency rank
11276
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature desastre desastres
Definition Infortunio grande, acontecimiento desafortunado y deplorable. Forma del plural de desastre.

Where the eye mixes desastre and desastres

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

8 ch
desastre
9 ch
desastres

Visual trap between desastre and desastres

A purely visual mix-up. desastre ([d̪eˈsast̪ɾe]) and desastres ([d̪eˈsast̪ɾes]) 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) - “desastre” sits inside “desastres”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11276, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

desastre is recorded at frequency rank #2,337, classified as anoun, pronounced [d̪eˈsast̪ɾe]. desastres is at rank #8,939, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪eˈsast̪ɾes].

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 11276, this pair ranks #295,690 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of desastre vs desastres

Shared letters: aderst. Private to "desastre": -. Private to "desastres": -.

"desastre" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV  ·  "desastres" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • desastreddesastre · deasstre · desasrte · desasstre · desaster · desastrre · desasttre · desatsre
  • desastresddesastres · deasstres · desasrtes · desasstres · desasters · desastress · desastrres · desastrse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "desastre" and "desastres" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eˈsast̪ɾe] versus [d̪eˈsast̪ɾes]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "desastre" or "desastres"?
"desastre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,337 in our Spanish list, against #8,939 for "desastres". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "desastre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "desastres" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #295,690 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "desastre" and "desastres" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desastres vs desastrosa". 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 #295,690 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