LópezvslotesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: López is a name, lotes is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“López” is a name and “lotes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,321
“López” frequency rank
#16,145
“lotes” frequency rank
17466
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature López lotes
Definition Apellido español, patronímico derivado del nombre propio de Lope. Forma del plural de lote.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set López and lotes apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
López
5 ch
lotes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: López is [ˈlopes] while lotes is [ˈlot̪es]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17466, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

López is recorded at frequency rank #1,321, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈlopes]. lotes is at rank #16,145, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlot̪es].

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 17466, this pair ranks #271,994 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of López vs lotes

Shared letters: el. Private to "López": pzó. Private to "lotes": ost.

"López" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "lotes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lotesllotes · loets · lotess · lotse · lottes · ltoes · oltes

Frequency comparison

López#1,321
lotes#16,145

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "López" and "lotes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "López" is a name and "lotes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "López" or "lotes"?
"López" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,321 in our Spanish list, against #16,145 for "lotes". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering López vs lotes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “López”; for a noun, it's “lotes”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “López” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list