sanciónvssancionesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,361
“sanción” frequency rank
#4,942
“sanciones” frequency rank
11303
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sanción sanciones
Definition Castigo administrativo o penal, que se obtiene por la comisión de una infracción. Forma del plural de sanción.

Where the eye mixes sanción and sanciones

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. sanción runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against sanciones's 9 (CVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
sanción
9 ch
sanciones

Why the eye confuses sanción with sanciones

A purely visual mix-up. sanción ([sãnˈsjõn]) and sanciones ([sãnˈsjones]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11303, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sanción is recorded at frequency rank #6,361, classified as anoun, pronounced [sãnˈsjõn]. sanciones is at rank #4,942, tagged as anoun, pronounced [sãnˈsjones].

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 11303, this pair ranks #295,581 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sanción vs sanciones

Shared letters: acins. Private to "sanción": ó. Private to "sanciones": eo.

"sanción" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "sanciones" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sanciones ← asnciones · sacniones · sancciones · sancinoes · sancioens · sancioness · sancionnes · sancionse

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sanción" and "sanciones" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([sãnˈsjõn] versus [sãnˈsjones]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "sanción" vs "sanciones" - which ranks higher?
"sanciones" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,942 in our Spanish list, against #6,361 for "sanción". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "sanción" and "sanciones" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sanción" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sanciones" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #295,581 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sanción" and "sanciones" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sanción vs sancionan". 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 #295,581 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