filovsfilosConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#10,668
“filo” frequency rank
#47,806
“filos” frequency rank
58474
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature filo filos
Definition En un instrumento cortante, el borde agudo que corta. Forma del plural de filo.

Where the eye mixes filo and filos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
filo
5 ch
filos

Why the eye confuses filo with filos

A purely visual mix-up. filo ([ˈfilo]) and filos ([ˈfilos]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “filo” sits inside “filos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58474, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

filo is recorded at frequency rank #10,668, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfilo]. filos is at rank #47,806, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfilos].

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 58474, this pair ranks #66,324 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of filo vs filos

Shared letters: filo. Private to "filo": -. Private to "filos": s.

"filo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "filos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • filoffilo · fillo · fiol · flio · iflo
  • filosffilos · fillos · filoss · filso · fiols · flios · iflos

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "filo" for "filos" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfilo] versus [ˈfilos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "filo" vs "filos" - which ranks higher?
"filo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,668 in our Spanish list, against #47,806 for "filos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "filo" and "filos" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "filo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "filos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #66,324 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "filo" and "filos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "falo vs filos". 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 #66,324 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