Which to use
“etnias” is a noun and “étnico” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,134
- “etnias” frequency rank
- #14,742
- “étnico” frequency rank
- 31876
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | etnias | étnico |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del plural de etnia. | Propio o relacionado con la raza o con grupos de personas que comparten una cultura, una lengua, una región, una religión, etc. |
Where the eye mixes etnias and étnico
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. etnias (VCCVVC) and étnico (VCCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between etnias and étnico
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: etnias is [ˈet̪njas] while étnico is [ˈet̪niko]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31876, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
etnias is recorded at frequency rank #17,134, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈet̪njas]. étnico is at rank #14,742, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈet̪niko].
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 31876, this pair ranks #204,854 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of etnias vs étnico
Shared letters: int. Private to "etnias": aes. Private to "étnico": coé.
"etnias" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC · "étnico" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- etnias ← entias · etinas · etnais · etniass · etnisa · etnnias · ettnias · tenias
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "etnias" for "étnico" ever safe?
Frequency check: "etnias" vs "étnico" - which ranks higher?
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 "etnias" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étnico" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #204,854 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "etnias" and "étnico" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "etílico vs étnico". 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 #204,854 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.