Which to use
“line” and “lines” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,794
- “line” frequency rank
- #42,009
- “lines” frequency rank
- 48803
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | line | lines |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Línea. | La forma exterior o proporciones de un barco, edificio, etcétera. |
Where the eye mixes line and lines
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. line runs 4 letters (CVCV) against lines's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses line with lines
A purely visual mix-up. line (/laɪn/) and lines (/laɪnz/) 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 extra letter(s) - “line” sits inside “lines”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48803, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
line is recorded at frequency rank #6,794, classified as anoun, pronounced /laɪn/. lines is at rank #42,009, tagged as anoun, pronounced /laɪnz/.
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 48803, this pair ranks #112,442 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of line vs lines
Shared letters: eiln. Private to "line": -. Private to "lines": s.
"line" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lines" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "line" for "lines" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "line" or "lines" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "line" and "lines" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "line" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lines" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #112,442 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "line" and "lines" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lies vs lines". 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 #112,442 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.