excepciónvsexcepcionalWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: excepción is a noun, excepcional is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#2,774
“excepción” frequency rank
#7,019
“excepcional” frequency rank
9793
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature excepción excepcional
Definition Efecto y acción de exceptuar o excluir. Que pertenece o concierne a una excepción.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set excepción and excepcional apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
excepción
11 ch
excepcional

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: excepción is [eksepˈsjõn] while excepcional is [eksepsjoˈnal]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9793, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

excepción is recorded at frequency rank #2,774, classified as anoun, pronounced [eksepˈsjõn]. excepcional is at rank #7,019, tagged as anadj, pronounced [eksepsjoˈnal].

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 9793, this pair ranks #300,804 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of excepción vs excepcional

Shared letters: ceinpx. Private to "excepción": ó. Private to "excepcional": alo.

"excepción" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC  ·  "excepcional" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • excepcionalecxepcional · exccepcional · excecpional · excepccional · excepcinoal · excepcioanl · excepcionall · excepcionla

Frequency comparison

excepción#2,774
excepcional#7,019

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "excepción" and "excepcional" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "excepción" is a noun and "excepcional" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "excepción" or "excepcional"?
"excepción" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,774 in our Spanish list, against #7,019 for "excepcional". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering excepción vs excepcional

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “excepción”; for an adjective, it's “excepcional”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “excepción” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list