Which to use
“foca” and “focos” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,451
- “foca” frequency rank
- #13,914
- “focos” frequency rank
- 40365
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | foca | focos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nombre genérico para diversos mamíferos pinnípedos marinos, en particular para aquellos de la familia Fócidos (Phocidae), adaptados a vivir en medios acuáticos la mayor parte del tiempo. Tienen cuerpos alargados y fusiformes, adaptados a la natación; las extremidades anteriores son cortas y aplanadas, mejor preparadas para su uso como aletas que para el desplazamiento en tierra. | Forma del plural de foco. |
Where the eye mixes foca and focos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. foca runs 4 letters (CVCV) against focos's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses foca with focos
A purely visual mix-up. foca ([ˈfoka]) and focos ([ˈfokos]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40365, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
foca is recorded at frequency rank #26,451, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfoka]. focos is at rank #13,914, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfokos].
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 40365, this pair ranks #159,490 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of foca vs focos
Shared letters: cfo. Private to "foca": a. Private to "focos": s.
"foca" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "focos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "foca" for "focos" ever safe?
Which is more common, "foca" or "focos"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "foca" and "focos" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "foca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "focos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #159,490 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "foca" and "focos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foca vs fora". 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 #159,490 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.