LealvslealesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Leal is a name, leales is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Leal” is a name and “leales” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,698
“Leal” frequency rank
#10,165
“leales” frequency rank
16863
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Leal leales
Definition Apellido. Forma del plural de leal.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Leal and leales apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
Leal
6 ch
leales

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Leal is [leˈal] while leales is [leˈales]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Leal” sits inside “leales”, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16863, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Leal is recorded at frequency rank #6,698, classified as aname, pronounced [leˈal]. leales is at rank #10,165, tagged as anadj, pronounced [leˈales].

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 16863, this pair ranks #274,486 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Leal vs leales

Shared letters: ael. Private to "Leal": -. Private to "leales": s.

"Leal" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "leales" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Leallael · leall · lleal
  • lealeselales · laeles · leaels · lealess · lealles · lealse · lelaes · lleales

Frequency comparison

Leal#6,698
leales#10,165

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Leal" and "leales" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Leal" is a name and "leales" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Leal" or "leales"?
"Leal" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,698 in our Spanish list, against #10,165 for "leales". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Leal vs leales

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Leal”; for an adjective, it's “leales”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Leal” 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