Which to use
“impuesto” is a noun and “impuestos” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,029
- “impuesto” frequency rank
- #1,679
- “impuestos” frequency rank
- 3708
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | impuesto | impuestos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cuota obligatoria pagada por individuos o instituciones a un gobierno central o local. | Forma del plural de impuesto, participio irregular de imponer. |
Where the eye mixes impuesto and impuestos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. impuesto runs 8 letters (VCCVVCCV) against impuestos's 9 (VCCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between impuesto and impuestos
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: impuesto is [ĩmˈpwest̪o] while impuestos is [ĩmˈpwest̪os]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “impuesto” sits inside “impuestos”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3708, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
impuesto is recorded at frequency rank #2,029, classified as anoun, pronounced [ĩmˈpwest̪o]. impuestos is at rank #1,679, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [ĩmˈpwest̪os].
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 3708, this pair ranks #317,741 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of impuesto vs impuestos
Shared letters: eimopstu. Private to "impuesto": -. Private to "impuestos": -.
"impuesto" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCCV · "impuestos" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "impuesto" for "impuestos" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "impuesto" or "impuestos" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "impuesto" and "impuestos" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "impuesto" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "impuestos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #317,741 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "impuesto" and "impuestos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "impuestos vs impulsos". 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 #317,741 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.