directivovsdirectivosWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: directivo is a adjective, directivos is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#10,488
“directivo” frequency rank
#8,509
“directivos” frequency rank
18997
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature directivo directivos
Definition Que tiene facultad y virtud de dirigir. Forma del plural de directivo.

Where the eye mixes directivo and directivos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

9 ch
directivo
10 ch
directivos

Visual trap between directivo and directivos

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: directivo is [d̪iɾekˈt̪iβ̞o] while directivos is [d̪iɾekˈt̪iβ̞os]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “directivo” sits inside “directivos”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18997, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

directivo is recorded at frequency rank #10,488, classified as anadj, pronounced [d̪iɾekˈt̪iβ̞o]. directivos is at rank #8,509, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪iɾekˈt̪iβ̞os].

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 18997, this pair ranks #265,597 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of directivo vs directivos

Shared letters: cdeiortv. Private to "directivo": -. Private to "directivos": s.

"directivo" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV  ·  "directivos" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • directivoddirectivo · dierctivo · dircetivo · direcctivo · direcitvo · directibo · directiov · directivvo
  • directivosddirectivos · dierctivos · dircetivos · direcctivos · direcitvos · directibos · directiovs · directivoss

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "directivo" for "directivos" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "directivo" is an adjective and "directivos" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "directivo" or "directivos"?
"directivos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,509 in our Spanish list, against #10,488 for "directivo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "directivo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "directivos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #265,597 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "directivo" and "directivos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "digestivos vs directivos". 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 #265,597 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