fósforovsfósforosTell them apart

Which to use

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

#15,866
“fósforo” frequency rank
#37,104
“fósforos” frequency rank
52970
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fósforo fósforos
Definition Elemento químico no metálico, constituyente importante de los seres vivos. Su número atómico es 15 y su símbolo, P. Forma del plural de fósforo.

Where the eye mixes fósforo and fósforos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. fósforo runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against fósforos's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
fósforo
8 ch
fósforos

Visual trap between fósforo and fósforos

A purely visual mix-up. fósforo ([ˈfosfoɾo]) and fósforos ([ˈfosfoɾos]) 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) - “fósforo” sits inside “fósforos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52970, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fósforo is recorded at frequency rank #15,866, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfosfoɾo]. fósforos is at rank #37,104, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfosfoɾos].

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 52970, this pair ranks #90,192 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fósforo vs fósforos

Shared letters: forsó. Private to "fósforo": -. Private to "fósforos": -.

"fósforo" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "fósforos" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fósforo" and "fósforos" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfosfoɾo] versus [ˈfosfoɾos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "fósforo" or "fósforos" show up more?
"fósforo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,866 in our Spanish list, against #37,104 for "fósforos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "fósforo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fósforos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #90,192 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fósforo" and "fósforos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fosfato vs fósforo". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #90,192 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