fábricavsfabricasWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fábrica is a noun, fabricas is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fábrica” is a noun and “fabricas” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,833
“fábrica” frequency rank
#40,307
“fabricas” frequency rank
43140
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fábrica fabricas
Definition Acción y efecto de fabricar. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de fabricar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fábrica and fabricas apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
fábrica
8 ch
fabricas

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fábrica is [ˈfaβ̞ɾika] while fabricas is [faˈβ̞ɾikas]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43140, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fábrica is recorded at frequency rank #2,833, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaβ̞ɾika]. fabricas is at rank #40,307, tagged as averb, pronounced [faˈβ̞ɾikas].

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 43140, this pair ranks #144,301 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fábrica vs fabricas

Shared letters: abcfir. Private to "fábrica": á. Private to "fabricas": s.

"fábrica" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "fabricas" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fabricasafbricas · fabbricas · fabircas · fabrcias · fabriacs · fabricass · fabriccas · fabricsa

Frequency comparison

fábrica#2,833
fabricas#40,307

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fábrica" and "fabricas" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fábrica" is a noun and "fabricas" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fábrica" or "fabricas"?
"fábrica" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,833 in our Spanish list, against #40,307 for "fabricas". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering fábrica vs fabricas

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “fábrica”; for a verb, it's “fabricas”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fábrica” 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