Which to use
“palabra” and “palabras” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #555
- “palabra” frequency rank
- #380
- “palabras” frequency rank
- 935
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | palabra | palabras |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Unidad mínima de significado de una lengua o idioma. | Forma del plural de palabra. |
Where the eye mixes palabra and palabras
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. palabra runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against palabras's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: palabra vs palabras
A purely visual mix-up. palabra ([paˈlaβ̞ɾa]) and palabras ([paˈlaβ̞ɾas]) 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) - “palabra” sits inside “palabras”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 935, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
palabra is recorded at frequency rank #555, classified as anoun, pronounced [paˈlaβ̞ɾa]. palabras is at rank #380, tagged as anoun, pronounced [paˈlaβ̞ɾas].
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 935, this pair ranks #322,779 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of palabra vs palabras
Shared letters: ablpr. Private to "palabra": -. Private to "palabras": s.
"palabra" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "palabras" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "palabra" for "palabras" ever safe?
Which is more common, "palabra" or "palabras"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "palabra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "palabras" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #322,779 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "palabra" and "palabras" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "palabras vs palabrotas". 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 #322,779 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.