positivasvspositivosWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,718
“positivas” frequency rank
#5,245
“positivos” frequency rank
11963
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature positivas positivos
Definition Forma del femenino plural de positivo. Forma del plural de positivo.

Where the eye mixes positivas and positivos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. positivas and positivos follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
positivas
9 ch
positivos

Visual trap between positivas and positivos

A purely visual mix-up. positivas ([posiˈt̪iβ̞as]) and positivos ([posiˈt̪iβ̞os]) 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 a single letter - a in “positivas” becomes o in “positivos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11963, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

positivas is recorded at frequency rank #6,718, classified as anadj, pronounced [posiˈt̪iβ̞as]. positivos is at rank #5,245, tagged as anadj, pronounced [posiˈt̪iβ̞os].

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 11963, this pair ranks #293,233 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of positivas vs positivos

Shared letters: iopstv. Private to "positivas": a. Private to "positivos": -.

"positivas" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC  ·  "positivos" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • positivas ← opsitivas · pocitivas · poistivas · posiitvas · positiavs · positibas · positivass · positivsa
  • positivos ← opsitivos · pocitivos · poistivos · posiitvos · positibos · positiovs · positivoss · positivso

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "positivas" and "positivos" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([posiˈt̪iβ̞as] versus [posiˈt̪iβ̞os]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "positivas" or "positivos"?
"positivos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,245 in our Spanish list, against #6,718 for "positivas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "positivas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "positivos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #293,233 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "positivas" and "positivos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "position vs positivos". 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 #293,233 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