focosvsfondosTell them apart

Which to use

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

#13,914
“focos” frequency rank
#1,546
“fondos” frequency rank
15460
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature focos fondos
Definition Forma del plural de foco. Forma del plural de fondo.

Where the eye mixes focos and fondos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. focos runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against fondos's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
focos
6 ch
fondos

Why the eye confuses focos with fondos

A purely visual mix-up. focos ([ˈfokos]) and fondos ([ˈfõn̪d̪os]) 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 15460, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

focos is recorded at frequency rank #13,914, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfokos]. fondos is at rank #1,546, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfõn̪d̪os].

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 15460, this pair ranks #280,058 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of focos vs fondos

Shared letters: fos. Private to "focos": c. Private to "fondos": dn.

"focos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "fondos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • focos ← fcoos · ffocos · foccos · focoss · focso · foocs · ofcos
  • fondos ← ffondos · fnodos · fodnos · fonddos · fondoss · fondso · fonndos · fonods

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "focos" for "fondos" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfokos] versus [ˈfõn̪d̪os]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "focos" vs "fondos" - which ranks higher?
"fondos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,546 in our Spanish list, against #13,914 for "focos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "focos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fondos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #280,058 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "focos" and "fondos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "faces vs focos". 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 #280,058 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