saposvsspotsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#26,614
“sapos” frequency rank
#30,263
“spots” frequency rank
56877
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sapos spots
Definition Forma del plural de sapo. Forma del plural de spot.

Where the eye mixes sapos and spots

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. sapos (CVCVC) and spots (CCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
sapos
5 ch
spots

Look-alike desk: sapos vs spots

A purely visual mix-up. sapos ([ˈsapos]) and spots (/spɒts/) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56877, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sapos is recorded at frequency rank #26,614, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈsapos]. spots is at rank #30,263, tagged as anoun, pronounced /spɒts/.

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 56877, this pair ranks #72,758 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sapos vs spots

Shared letters: ops. Private to "sapos": a. Private to "spots": t.

"sapos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "spots" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sapos ← aspos · saops · saposs · sappos · sapso · spaos · ssapos
  • spots ← psots · sopts · spost · spotss · spotts · sppots · sptos · sspots

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sapos" for "spots" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈsapos] versus /spɒts/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "sapos" vs "spots" - which ranks higher?
"sapos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,614 in our Spanish list, against #30,263 for "spots". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sapos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "spots" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #72,758 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sapos" and "spots" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sous vs spots". 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 #72,758 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