Which to use
“metal” and “metales” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,000
- “metal” frequency rank
- #7,879
- “metales” frequency rank
- 10879
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | metal | metales |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cuerpo simple, sólido a la temperatura ordinaria, a excepción del mercurio, conductor del calor y de la electricidad, y que se distingue de los demás sólidos por su brillo especial. | Forma del plural de metal. |
Where the eye mixes metal and metales
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. metal runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against metales's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between metal and metales
A purely visual mix-up. metal ([meˈt̪al]) and metales ([meˈt̪ales]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “metal” sits inside “metales”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10879, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
metal is recorded at frequency rank #3,000, classified as anoun, pronounced [meˈt̪al]. metales is at rank #7,879, tagged as anoun, pronounced [meˈt̪ales].
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 10879, this pair ranks #297,058 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of metal vs metales
Shared letters: aelmt. Private to "metal": -. Private to "metales": s.
"metal" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "metales" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "metal" for "metales" ever safe?
Which is more common, "metal" or "metales"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "metal" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "metales" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #297,058 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "metal" and "metales" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "metal vs modal". 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 #297,058 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.