distintovsdistintosTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#2,877
“distinto” frequency rank
#1,340
“distintos” frequency rank
4217
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature distinto distintos
Definition que muestra diferencia. Forma del plural de distinto.

Where the eye mixes distinto and distintos

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

8 ch
distinto
9 ch
distintos

Visual trap between distinto and distintos

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: distinto is [d̪isˈt̪ĩn̪t̪o] while distintos is [d̪isˈt̪ĩn̪t̪os]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “distinto” sits inside “distintos”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4217, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

distinto is recorded at frequency rank #2,877, classified as anadj, pronounced [d̪isˈt̪ĩn̪t̪o]. distintos is at rank #1,340, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪isˈt̪ĩn̪t̪os].

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 4217, this pair ranks #316,607 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of distinto vs distintos

Shared letters: dinost. Private to "distinto": -. Private to "distintos": -.

"distinto" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "distintos" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • distinto ← ddistinto · disitnto · disstinto · distinnto · distinot · distintto · distitno · distnito
  • distintos ← ddistintos · disitntos · disstintos · distinntos · distinots · distintoss · distintso · distinttos

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "distinto" and "distintos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "distinto" is an adjective and "distintos" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "distinto" or "distintos"?
"distintos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,340 in our Spanish list, against #2,877 for "distinto". 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 "distinto" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "distintos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #316,607 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "distinto" and "distintos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "distingo vs distinto". 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 #316,607 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