sancionesvsseccionesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,942
“sanciones” frequency rank
#5,433
“secciones” frequency rank
10375
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sanciones secciones
Definition Forma del plural de sanción. Forma del plural de sección.

Where the eye mixes sanciones and secciones

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. sanciones and secciones follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
sanciones
9 ch
secciones

Why the eye confuses sanciones with secciones

A purely visual mix-up. sanciones ([sãnˈsjones]) and secciones ([sekˈsjones]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10375, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sanciones is recorded at frequency rank #4,942, classified as anoun, pronounced [sãnˈsjones]. secciones is at rank #5,433, tagged as anoun, pronounced [sekˈsjones].

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 10375, this pair ranks #298,853 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sanciones vs secciones

Shared letters: ceinos. Private to "sanciones": a. Private to "secciones": -.

"sanciones" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC  ·  "secciones" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sanciones ← asnciones · sacniones · sancciones · sancinoes · sancioens · sancioness · sancionnes · sancionse
  • secciones ← cecciones · escciones · sceciones · seccinoes · seccioens · seccioness · seccionnes · seccionse

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sanciones" and "secciones" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([sãnˈsjones] versus [sekˈsjones]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "sanciones" vs "secciones" - which ranks higher?
"sanciones" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,942 in our Spanish list, against #5,433 for "secciones". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "sanciones" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "secciones" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #298,853 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sanciones" and "secciones" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sancionan vs sanciones". 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 #298,853 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