fecalvsfecalesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#36,046
“fecal” frequency rank
#48,410
“fecales” frequency rank
84456
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fecal fecales
Definition Se dice de la materia puramente excrementicia. Forma del plural de fecal.

Where the eye mixes fecal and fecales

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fecal runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against fecales's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
fecal
7 ch
fecales

Why the eye confuses fecal with fecales

A purely visual mix-up. fecal ([feˈkal]) and fecales ([feˈkales]) 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) - “fecal” sits inside “fecales”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84456, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fecal is recorded at frequency rank #36,046, classified as anadj, pronounced [feˈkal]. fecales is at rank #48,410, tagged as anadj, pronounced [feˈkales].

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 84456, this pair ranks #7,042 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fecal vs fecales

Shared letters: acefl. Private to "fecal": -. Private to "fecales": s.

"fecal" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "fecales" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fecal ← efcal · fceal · feacl · fecall · feccal · fecla · ffecal
  • fecales ← efcales · fceales · feacles · fecaels · fecaless · fecalles · fecalse · feccales

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fecal" and "fecales" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([feˈkal] versus [feˈkales]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fecal" or "fecales"?
"fecal" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,046 in our Spanish list, against #48,410 for "fecales". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "fecal" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fecales" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #7,042 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fecal" and "fecales" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fecales vs female". 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 #7,042 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