hienavshienasWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#39,789
“hiena” frequency rank
#37,132
“hienas” frequency rank
76921
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hiena hienas
Definition (Hyaenidae) Carnívoro terrestre nativo de África y Asia, miembros de la familia de los Hiénidos (Hyaenidae). Aunque las hienas son similares, a primera vista, a perros de gran tamaño —alcanzando hasta los 40 kg de peso— están sólo remotamente emparentadas con los cánidos. Forma del plural de hiena.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hiena and hienas apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
hiena
6 ch
hienas

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. hiena ([ˈjena]) and hienas ([ˈjenas]) 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) - “hiena” sits inside “hienas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76921, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hiena is recorded at frequency rank #39,789, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈjena]. hienas is at rank #37,132, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈjenas].

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 76921, this pair ranks #16,894 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hiena vs hienas

Shared letters: aehin. Private to "hiena": -. Private to "hienas": s.

"hiena" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "hienas" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hienaheina · hhiena · hiean · hienna · hinea · ihena
  • hienasheinas · hhienas · hieans · hienass · hiennas · hiensa · hineas · ihenas

Frequency comparison

hiena#39,789
hienas#37,132

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hiena" and "hienas" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈjena] versus [ˈjenas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hiena" or "hienas"?
"hienas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,132 in our Spanish list, against #39,789 for "hiena". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hiena vs hienas

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hiena” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list