policialvspolicialesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#4,369
“policial” frequency rank
#7,480
“policiales” frequency rank
11849
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature policial policiales
Definition Perteneciente o relativo a la policía. Forma del plural de policial.

Where the eye mixes policial and policiales

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. policial runs 8 letters (CVCVCVVC) against policiales's 10 (CVCVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
policial
10 ch
policiales

Look-alike desk: policial vs policiales

A purely visual mix-up. policial ([poliˈsjal]) and policiales ([poliˈsjales]) 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) - “policial” sits inside “policiales”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11849, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

policial is recorded at frequency rank #4,369, classified as anadj, pronounced [poliˈsjal]. policiales is at rank #7,480, tagged as anadj, pronounced [poliˈsjales].

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 11849, this pair ranks #293,647 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of policial vs policiales

Shared letters: acilop. Private to "policial": -. Private to "policiales": es.

"policial" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "policiales" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • policial ← oplicial · ploicial · poilcial · polciial · policail · policcial · policiall · policila
  • policiales ← opliciales · ploiciales · poilciales · polciiales · policailes · policciales · policiaels · policialess

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "policial" and "policiales" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([poliˈsjal] versus [poliˈsjales]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "policial" vs "policiales" - which ranks higher?
"policial" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,369 in our Spanish list, against #7,480 for "policiales". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "policial" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "policiales" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #293,647 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "policial" and "policiales" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "policial vs political". 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 #293,647 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