señalanvsseñalesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: señalan is a verb, señales is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“señalan” is a verb and “señales” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,360
“señalan” frequency rank
#3,149
“señales” frequency rank
10509
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature señalan señales
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de señalar. Forma del plural de señal.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set señalan and señales apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
señalan
7 ch
señales

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: señalan is [seˈɲalãn] while señales is [seˈɲales]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10509, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

señalan is recorded at frequency rank #7,360, classified as averb, pronounced [seˈɲalãn]. señales is at rank #3,149, tagged as anoun, pronounced [seˈɲales].

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 10509, this pair ranks #298,341 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of señalan vs señales

Shared letters: aelsñ. Private to "señalan": n. Private to "señales": -.

"señalan" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "señales" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

señalan#7,360
señales#3,149

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "señalan" and "señales" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "señalan" is a verb and "señales" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "señalan" or "señales"?
"señales" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,149 in our Spanish list, against #7,360 for "señalan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering señalan vs señales

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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