Which to use
“role” and “roles” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,679
- “role” frequency rank
- #8,872
- “roles” frequency rank
- 51551
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | role | roles |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Papel, rol. | Forma del plural de rol. |
Where the eye mixes role and roles
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. role runs 4 letters (CVCV) against roles's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses role with roles
A purely visual mix-up. role (/ɹəʊl/) and roles ([ˈroles]) 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) - “role” sits inside “roles”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51551, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
role is recorded at frequency rank #42,679, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹəʊl/. roles is at rank #8,872, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈroles].
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 51551, this pair ranks #97,308 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of role vs roles
Shared letters: elor. Private to "role": -. Private to "roles": s.
"role" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "roles" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "role" and "roles" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "role" or "roles"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "role" and "roles" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "role" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "roles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #97,308 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "role" and "roles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "role vs roller". 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 #97,308 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.