hospitalvshospitalesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,017
“hospital” frequency rank
#3,850
“hospitales” frequency rank
4867
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hospital hospitales
Definition Lugar donde se atiende a los enfermos, para proporcionar el diagnóstico y tratamiento que necesitan. Forma del plural de hospital.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hospital and hospitales apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
hospital
10 ch
hospitales

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. hospital ([ospiˈt̪al]) and hospitales ([ospiˈt̪ales]) 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) - “hospital” sits inside “hospitales”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4867, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hospital is recorded at frequency rank #1,017, classified as anoun, pronounced [ospiˈt̪al]. hospitales is at rank #3,850, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ospiˈt̪ales].

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 4867, this pair ranks #315,046 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hospital vs hospitales

Shared letters: ahilopst. Private to "hospital": -. Private to "hospitales": e.

"hospital" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "hospitales" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hospitalhhospital · hopsital · hosiptal · hospiatl · hospitall · hospitla · hospittal · hosppital
  • hospitaleshhospitales · hopsitales · hosiptales · hospiatles · hospitaels · hospitaless · hospitalles · hospitalse

Frequency comparison

hospital#1,017
hospitales#3,850

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hospital" and "hospitales" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ospiˈt̪al] versus [ospiˈt̪ales]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hospital" or "hospitales"?
"hospital" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,017 in our Spanish list, against #3,850 for "hospitales". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hospital vs hospitales

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 “hospital” 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