hostalvshostiasTell them apart

Which to use

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

#30,946
“hostal” frequency rank
#23,813
“hostias” frequency rank
54759
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hostal hostias
Definition Establecimiento que ofrece servicios de hospedaje y alimentación a viajeros o turistas. Forma del plural de hostia

Where the eye mixes hostal and hostias

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. hostal runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against hostias's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
hostal
7 ch
hostias

Visual trap between hostal and hostias

A purely visual mix-up. hostal ([osˈt̪al]) and hostias ([ˈost̪jas]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54759, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hostal is recorded at frequency rank #30,946, classified as anoun, pronounced [osˈt̪al]. hostias is at rank #23,813, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈost̪jas].

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 54759, this pair ranks #81,904 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hostal vs hostias

Shared letters: ahost. Private to "hostal": l. Private to "hostias": i.

"hostal" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "hostias" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hostal ← hhostal · hosatl · hosstal · hostall · hostla · hosttal · hotsal · hsotal
  • hostias ← hhostias · hositas · hosstias · hostais · hostiass · hostisa · hosttias · hotsias

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hostal" and "hostias" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([osˈt̪al] versus [ˈost̪jas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hostal" or "hostias"?
"hostias" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,813 in our Spanish list, against #30,946 for "hostal". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hostal" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hostias" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #81,904 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hostal" and "hostias" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hostias vs ostias". 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 #81,904 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