Which to use
“gente” is a noun and “gentil” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #92
- “gente” frequency rank
- #16,346
- “gentil” frequency rank
- 16438
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gente | gentil |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Conjunto de personas. | Propio de, relativo o perteneciente a un grupo de gentes distinto del del hablante. |
Where the eye mixes gente and gentil
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. gente runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against gentil's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between gente and gentil
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gente is [ˈxẽn̪t̪e] while gentil is [xẽn̪ˈt̪il]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16438, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gente is recorded at frequency rank #92, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈxẽn̪t̪e]. gentil is at rank #16,346, tagged as anadj, pronounced [xẽn̪ˈt̪il].
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 16438, this pair ranks #276,162 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gente vs gentil
Shared letters: egnt. Private to "gente": -. Private to "gentil": il.
"gente" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "gentil" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gente" for "gentil" ever safe?
Frequency check: "gente" vs "gentil" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "gente" and "gentil" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "gente" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gentil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #276,162 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gente" and "gentil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Genil vs gentil". 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 #276,162 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.