focovsfocusWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,680
“foco” frequency rank
#20,045
“focus” frequency rank
26725
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature foco focus
Definition Punto físico en el que convergen los rayos de luz reflejados o refractados por una lente o espejo. Foco.

Where the eye mixes foco and focus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
foco
5 ch
focus

Visual trap between foco and focus

A purely visual mix-up. foco ([ˈfoko]) and focus ([ˈfo.kus]) 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 26725, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

foco is recorded at frequency rank #6,680, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfoko]. focus is at rank #20,045, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfo.kus].

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 26725, this pair ranks #230,276 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of foco vs focus

Shared letters: cfo. Private to "foco": -. Private to "focus": su.

"foco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "focus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • focofcoo · ffoco · focco · fooc · ofco
  • focusfcous · ffocus · foccus · focsu · focuss · foucs · ofcus

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "foco" for "focus" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfoko] versus [ˈfo.kus]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "foco" vs "focus" - which ranks higher?
"foco" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,680 in our Spanish list, against #20,045 for "focus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "foco" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "focus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #230,276 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "foco" and "focus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "faces vs focus". 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 #230,276 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