Which to use
“fatal” and “fatales” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,408
- “fatal” frequency rank
- #20,369
- “fatales” frequency rank
- 26777
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fatal | fatales |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Que pertenece o concierne a los hados. | Forma del plural de fatal. |
Where the eye mixes fatal and fatales
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fatal runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against fatales's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses fatal with fatales
A purely visual mix-up. fatal ([faˈt̪al]) and fatales ([faˈt̪ales]) 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 extra letter(s) - “fatal” sits inside “fatales”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26777, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fatal is recorded at frequency rank #6,408, classified as anadj, pronounced [faˈt̪al]. fatales is at rank #20,369, tagged as anadj, pronounced [faˈt̪ales].
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 26777, this pair ranks #229,993 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fatal vs fatales
Shared letters: aflt. Private to "fatal": -. Private to "fatales": es.
"fatal" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "fatales" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fatal" and "fatales" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "fatal" or "fatales" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "fatal" and "fatales" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fatal" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fatales" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #229,993 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fatal" and "fatales" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fatales vs fecales". 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 #229,993 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.