Which to use
“hábil” and “hábiles” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,594
- “hábil” frequency rank
- #11,983
- “hábiles” frequency rank
- 23577
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hábil | hábiles |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Que puede hacer muy bien algo. | Forma del plural de hábil. |
Where the eye mixes hábil and hábiles
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. hábil runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against hábiles's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses hábil with hábiles
A purely visual mix-up. hábil ([ˈaβ̞il]) and hábiles ([ˈaβ̞iles]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “hábil” sits inside “hábiles”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23577, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hábil is recorded at frequency rank #11,594, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaβ̞il]. hábiles is at rank #11,983, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaβ̞iles].
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 23577, this pair ranks #245,134 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hábil vs hábiles
Shared letters: bhilá. Private to "hábil": -. Private to "hábiles": es.
"hábil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "hábiles" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hábil" for "hábiles" ever safe?
Which is more common, "hábil" or "hábiles"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "hábil" and "hábiles" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hábil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hábiles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #245,134 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hábil" and "hábiles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "habidas vs hábiles". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #245,134 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.