disculpavsdisculpasConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,506
“disculpa” frequency rank
#4,326
“disculpas” frequency rank
8832
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature disculpa disculpas
Definition Argumento con el que se intenta negar o quitar importancia a una culpa. Forma del plural de disculpa.

Where the eye mixes disculpa and disculpas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. disculpa runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCV) against disculpas's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
disculpa
9 ch
disculpas

Visual trap between disculpa and disculpas

A purely visual mix-up. disculpa ([d̪isˈkulpa]) and disculpas ([d̪isˈkulpas]) 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) - “disculpa” sits inside “disculpas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8832, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

disculpa is recorded at frequency rank #4,506, classified as anoun, pronounced [d̪isˈkulpa]. disculpas is at rank #4,326, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪isˈkulpas].

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 8832, this pair ranks #303,783 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of disculpa vs disculpas

Shared letters: acdilpsu. Private to "disculpa": -. Private to "disculpas": -.

"disculpa" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "disculpas" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • disculpa ← ddisculpa · dicsulpa · discculpa · disclupa · disculap · discullpa · disculppa · discupla
  • disculpas ← ddisculpas · dicsulpas · discculpas · disclupas · disculaps · discullpas · disculpass · disculppas

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "disculpa" for "disculpas" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪isˈkulpa] versus [d̪isˈkulpas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "disculpa" or "disculpas" show up more?
"disculpas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,326 in our Spanish list, against #4,506 for "disculpa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "disculpa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "disculpas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #303,783 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "disculpa" and "disculpas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "disculpa vs disculpado". 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 #303,783 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