Which to use
“señal” is a noun and “señalar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,918
- “señal” frequency rank
- #4,552
- “señalar” frequency rank
- 6470
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | señal | señalar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Marca o nota que se pone o hay en las cosas para darlas a conocer y distinguirlas de otras. | Poner alguna señal o marca en alguna cosa. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set señal and señalar apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
señal and señalar 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 2 extra letter(s) - “señal” sits inside “señalar” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6470, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
señal is recorded at frequency rank #1,918, classified as anoun, pronounced [seˈɲal]. señalar is at rank #4,552, tagged as averb, pronounced [seɲaˈlaɾ].
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 6470, this pair ranks #310,684 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "señal" and "señalar" be used interchangeably?
Remembering señal vs señalar
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “señal”; for a verb, it's “señalar”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “señal” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable