pulmónvspulmonarWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#10,202
“pulmón” frequency rank
#14,684
“pulmonar” frequency rank
24886
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pulmón pulmonar
Definition Órgano par, los más importantes del aparato respiratorio, con aspecto de cono, formados por un tejido esponjoso de color rosa grisáceo. Ocupan la mayor parte del tórax. Relacionado con los pulmones o propio de ellos.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pulmón and pulmonar apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
pulmón
8 ch
pulmonar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pulmón is [pulˈmõn] while pulmonar is [pulmoˈnaɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 24886, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pulmón is recorded at frequency rank #10,202, classified as anoun, pronounced [pulˈmõn]. pulmonar is at rank #14,684, tagged as anadj, pronounced [pulmoˈnaɾ].

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 24886, this pair ranks #239,044 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pulmón vs pulmonar

Shared letters: lmnpu. Private to "pulmón": ó. Private to "pulmonar": aor.

"pulmón" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "pulmonar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pulmonarplumonar · ppulmonar · pullmonar · pulmmonar · pulmnoar · pulmoanr · pulmonarr · pulmonnar

Frequency comparison

pulmón#10,202
pulmonar#14,684

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pulmón" and "pulmonar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pulmón" is a noun and "pulmonar" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pulmón" or "pulmonar"?
"pulmón" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,202 in our Spanish list, against #14,684 for "pulmonar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pulmón vs pulmonar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “pulmón”; for an adjective, it's “pulmonar”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pulmón” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list