estanquevsestanquesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,094
“estanque” frequency rank
#31,340
“estanques” frequency rank
47434
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature estanque estanques
Definition Extensión de agua natural o artificial construida para criar peces, proveer al riego, etc., o con un fin meramente ornamental. Forma del plural de estanque.

Where the eye mixes estanque and estanques

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

8 ch
estanque
9 ch
estanques

Why the eye confuses estanque with estanques

A purely visual mix-up. estanque ([esˈt̪ãŋke]) and estanques ([esˈt̪ãŋkes]) 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) - “estanque” sits inside “estanques”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47434, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

estanque is recorded at frequency rank #16,094, classified as anoun, pronounced [esˈt̪ãŋke]. estanques is at rank #31,340, tagged as anoun, pronounced [esˈt̪ãŋkes].

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 47434, this pair ranks #120,077 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of estanque vs estanques

Shared letters: aenqstu. Private to "estanque": -. Private to "estanques": -.

"estanque" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVV  ·  "estanques" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • estanque ← esatnque · esstanque · estannque · estanqeu · estanqque · estanuqe · estaqnue · estnaque
  • estanques ← esatnques · esstanques · estannques · estanqeus · estanqques · estanquess · estanquse · estanuqes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "estanque" for "estanques" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([esˈt̪ãŋke] versus [esˈt̪ãŋkes]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "estanque" or "estanques" show up more?
"estanque" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,094 in our Spanish list, against #31,340 for "estanques". 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 "estanque" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "estanques" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #120,077 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "estanque" and "estanques" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "estanques vs estantes". 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 #120,077 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