Which to use
“país” is a noun and “plain” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #133
- “país” frequency rank
- #44,928
- “plain” frequency rank
- 45061
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | país | plain |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Comunidad humana numerosa, organizada en un territorio, para defender su interés común frente a otras comunidades del mismo tipo. | Sencillo, liso, sin ornamentos, llano. |
Where the eye mixes país and plain
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between país and plain
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: país is [paˈis] while plain is /pleɪn/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45061, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
país is recorded at frequency rank #133, classified as anoun, pronounced [paˈis]. plain is at rank #44,928, tagged as anadj, pronounced /pleɪn/.
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 45061, this pair ranks #133,624 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of país vs plain
Shared letters: ap. Private to "país": sí. Private to "plain": iln.
"país" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "plain" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- plain ← lpain · palin · plainn · plani · plian · pllain · pplain
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "país" and "plain" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "país" or "plain" show up more?
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 "país" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "plain" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #133,624 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "país" and "plain" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plain vs plugin". 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 #133,624 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.