peldañovsplanoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“peldaño” and “plano” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#39,378
“peldaño” frequency rank
#2,466
“plano” frequency rank
41844
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature peldaño plano
Definition Cada uno de los tramos que en distintos niveles componen una escalera, y que se utilizan para subir o bajar. Sucesión de puntos.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set peldaño and plano apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
peldaño
5 ch
plano

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. peldaño ([pel̪ˈd̪aɲo]) and plano ([ˈplano]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41844, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

peldaño is recorded at frequency rank #39,378, classified as anoun, pronounced [pel̪ˈd̪aɲo]. plano is at rank #2,466, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈplano].

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 41844, this pair ranks #151,483 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of peldaño vs plano

Shared letters: alop. Private to "peldaño": deñ. Private to "plano": n.

"peldaño" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "plano" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • planolpano · palno · planno · plaon · pllano · plnao · pplano

Frequency comparison

peldaño#39,378
plano#2,466

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "peldaño" and "plano" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([pel̪ˈd̪aɲo] versus [ˈplano]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "peldaño" or "plano"?
"plano" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,466 in our Spanish list, against #39,378 for "peldaño". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering peldaño vs plano

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “peldaño” 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