imperialvsimperialesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,912
“imperial” frequency rank
#20,392
“imperiales” frequency rank
27304
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature imperial imperiales
Definition Que pertenece o concierne al imperio. Forma del plural de imperial.

Where the eye mixes imperial and imperiales

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. imperial runs 8 letters (VCCVCVVC) against imperiales's 10 (VCCVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
imperial
10 ch
imperiales

Look-alike desk: imperial vs imperiales

A purely visual mix-up. imperial ([ĩmpeˈɾjal]) and imperiales ([ĩmpeˈɾjales]) 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) - “imperial” sits inside “imperiales”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27304, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

imperial is recorded at frequency rank #6,912, classified as anadj, pronounced [ĩmpeˈɾjal]. imperiales is at rank #20,392, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ĩmpeˈɾjales].

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 27304, this pair ranks #227,483 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of imperial vs imperiales

Shared letters: aeilmpr. Private to "imperial": -. Private to "imperiales": s.

"imperial" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC  ·  "imperiales" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • imperial ← imeprial · immperial · impeiral · imperail · imperiall · imperila · imperrial · impperial
  • imperiales ← imepriales · immperiales · impeirales · imperailes · imperiaels · imperialess · imperialles · imperialse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "imperial" and "imperiales" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ĩmpeˈɾjal] versus [ĩmpeˈɾjales]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "imperial" or "imperiales" show up more?
"imperial" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,912 in our Spanish list, against #20,392 for "imperiales". 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 "imperial" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "imperiales" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #227,483 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "imperial" and "imperiales" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "imparciales vs imperiales". 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 #227,483 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