romancevsromancesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: romance is a adjective, romances is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“romance” is an adjective and “romances” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,455
“romance” frequency rank
#21,480
“romances” frequency rank
27935
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature romance romances
Definition Se dice de las lenguas que se desarrollaron durante la Edad Media a partir del latín hablado en varias zonas que fueron parte del imperio romano, como las actuales España, Francia, Italia, Portugal y Rumania. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de subjuntivo de romanzar.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
romance
8 ch
romances

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

romance and romances form a confusable pair in the Spanish index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “romance” sits inside “romances” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27935, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

romance is recorded at frequency rank #6,455, classified as anadj, pronounced [roˈmãnse]. romances is at rank #21,480, tagged as averb, pronounced [roˈmãnses].

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 27935, this pair ranks #224,460 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

romance#6,455
romances#21,480

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "romance" and "romances" be used interchangeably?
No, "romance" and "romances" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering romance vs romances

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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