focavsfoxTell them apart

Which to use

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

#26,451
“foca” frequency rank
#5,109
“fox” frequency rank
31560
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature foca fox
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. (Vulpes vulpes) Zorro.

Where the eye mixes foca and fox

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
foca
3 ch
fox

Visual trap between foca and fox

A purely visual mix-up. foca ([ˈfoka]) and fox (/fɒks/) 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 31560, 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]. fox is at rank #5,109, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fɒks/.

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 31560, this pair ranks #206,478 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of foca vs fox

Shared letters: fo. Private to "foca": ac. Private to "fox": x.

"foca" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "fox" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • focafcoa · ffoca · foac · focca · ofca

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "foca" and "fox" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfoka] versus /fɒks/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "foca" or "fox"?
"fox" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,109 in our Spanish list, against #26,451 for "foca". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "foca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fox" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #206,478 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "foca" and "fox" 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 #206,478 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