mecánicavsmecánicasTell them apart

Quick tell: mecánica is a noun, mecánicas is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mecánica” is a noun and “mecánicas” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,856
“mecánica” frequency rank
#16,381
“mecánicas” frequency rank
22237
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mecánica mecánicas
Definition Parte de la Física que trata de las fuerzas y sus efectos sobre los cuerpos. Forman parte de ella la Estática, que trata del equilibrio de fuerzas en cuerpos rígidos, inmóviles o en movimiento uniforme; y la Dinámica que se ocupa de los cambios de movimiento originados en estos cuerpos por la acción de fuerzas. Forma del femenino plural de mecánico.

Where the eye mixes mecánica and mecánicas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. mecánica runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCV) against mecánicas's 9 (CVCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
mecánica
9 ch
mecánicas

Why the eye confuses mecánica with mecánicas

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mecánica is [meˈkanika] while mecánicas is [meˈkanikas]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “mecánica” sits inside “mecánicas”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22237, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mecánica is recorded at frequency rank #5,856, classified as anoun, pronounced [meˈkanika]. mecánicas is at rank #16,381, tagged as anadj, pronounced [meˈkanikas].

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 22237, this pair ranks #251,278 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mecánica vs mecánicas

Shared letters: aceimná. Private to "mecánica": -. Private to "mecánicas": s.

"mecánica" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "mecánicas" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mecánica" for "mecánicas" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mecánica" is a noun and "mecánicas" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "mecánica" or "mecánicas" show up more?
"mecánica" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,856 in our Spanish list, against #16,381 for "mecánicas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "mecánica" and "mecánicas" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mecánica" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mecánicas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #251,278 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mecánica" and "mecánicas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mecánicas vs metálicas". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #251,278 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