policíasvspolíticasWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: policías is a noun, políticas is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#2,263
“policías” frequency rank
#856
“políticas” frequency rank
3119
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature policías políticas
Definition Forma del plural de policía. Forma del femenino plural de político.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set policías and políticas apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
policías
9 ch
políticas

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: policías is [poliˈsias] while políticas is [poˈlit̪ikas]. 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 3119, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

policías is recorded at frequency rank #2,263, classified as anoun, pronounced [poliˈsias]. políticas is at rank #856, tagged as anadj, pronounced [poˈlit̪ikas].

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 3119, this pair ranks #318,994 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of policías vs políticas

Shared letters: acilopsí. Private to "policías": -. Private to "políticas": t.

"policías" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "políticas" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

policías#2,263
políticas#856

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "policías" and "políticas" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "policías" is a noun and "políticas" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "policías" or "políticas"?
"políticas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #856 in our Spanish list, against #2,263 for "policías". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering policías vs políticas

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “policías”; for an adjective, it's “políticas”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “policías” 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