periódicovsperiódicosWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: periódico is a adjective, periódicos is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#2,041
“periódico” frequency rank
#3,204
“periódicos” frequency rank
5245
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature periódico periódicos
Definition Se dice de lo que pertenece o esta relacionado con un período, o que se repite con frecuencia a intervalos determinados. Forma del plural de periódico.

Where the eye mixes periódico and periódicos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. periódico runs 9 letters (CVCVVCVCV) against periódicos's 10 (CVCVVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
periódico
10 ch
periódicos

Look-alike desk: periódico vs periódicos

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: periódico is [peˈɾjoð̞iko] while periódicos is [peˈɾjoð̞ikos]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “periódico” sits inside “periódicos”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5245, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

periódico is recorded at frequency rank #2,041, classified as anadj, pronounced [peˈɾjoð̞iko]. periódicos is at rank #3,204, tagged as anoun, pronounced [peˈɾjoð̞ikos].

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 5245, this pair ranks #314,127 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of periódico vs periódicos

Shared letters: cdeiopró. Private to "periódico": -. Private to "periódicos": s.

"periódico" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCVCV  ·  "periódicos" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "periódico" for "periódicos" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "periódico" is an adjective and "periódicos" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "periódico" vs "periódicos" - which ranks higher?
"periódico" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,041 in our Spanish list, against #3,204 for "periódicos". 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 "periódico" and "periódicos" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "periódico" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "periódicos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #314,127 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "periódico" and "periódicos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "periódicas vs periódicos". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #314,127 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