elecciónvseleccionesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,242
“elección” frequency rank
#549
“elecciones” frequency rank
1791
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature elección elecciones
Definition Acción o efecto de elegir. Proceso para escoger un líder o miembros representativos mediante votación.

Where the eye mixes elección and elecciones

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. elección runs 8 letters (VCVCCVVC) against elecciones's 10 (VCVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
elección
10 ch
elecciones

Visual trap between elección and elecciones

A purely visual mix-up. elección ([elekˈsjõn]) and elecciones ([elekˈsjones]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1791, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

elección is recorded at frequency rank #1,242, classified as anoun, pronounced [elekˈsjõn]. elecciones is at rank #549, tagged as anoun, pronounced [elekˈsjones].

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 1791, this pair ranks #321,456 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of elección vs elecciones

Shared letters: ceiln. Private to "elección": ó. Private to "elecciones": os.

"elección" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVVC  ·  "elecciones" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • elecciones ← eelcciones · elceciones · eleccinoes · eleccioens · eleccioness · eleccionnes · eleccionse · eleccoines

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "elección" and "elecciones" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([elekˈsjõn] versus [elekˈsjones]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "elección" vs "elecciones" - which ranks higher?
"elecciones" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #549 in our Spanish list, against #1,242 for "elección". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "elección" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "elecciones" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #321,456 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "elección" and "elecciones" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "elecciones vs erecciones". 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 #321,456 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