precisovsprecisosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,246
“preciso” frequency rank
#13,986
“precisos” frequency rank
19232
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature preciso precisos
Definition Necesario, indispensable. Forma del masculino plural de preciso.

Where the eye mixes preciso and precisos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. preciso runs 7 letters (CCVCVCV) against precisos's 8 (CCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
preciso
8 ch
precisos

Visual trap between preciso and precisos

A purely visual mix-up. preciso ([pɾeˈsiso]) and precisos ([pɾeˈsisos]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “preciso” sits inside “precisos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19232, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

preciso is recorded at frequency rank #5,246, classified as anadj, pronounced [pɾeˈsiso]. precisos is at rank #13,986, tagged as anadj, pronounced [pɾeˈsisos].

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 19232, this pair ranks #264,627 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of preciso vs precisos

Shared letters: ceioprs. Private to "preciso": -. Private to "precisos": -.

"preciso" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "precisos" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • preciso ← perciso · ppreciso · prceiso · precciso · precisso · precsio · preicso · presiso
  • precisos ← percisos · pprecisos · prceisos · preccisos · precisoss · precissos · precsios · preicsos

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "preciso" for "precisos" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([pɾeˈsiso] versus [pɾeˈsisos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "preciso" or "precisos"?
"preciso" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,246 in our Spanish list, against #13,986 for "precisos". 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 "preciso" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "precisos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #264,627 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "preciso" and "precisos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "precisado vs preciso". 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 #264,627 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