señalé vs señales, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#46,808
“señalé” frequency rank: #3,149
“señales” frequency rank: 49957
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	señalé	señales
Definition	Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de señalar.	Forma del plural de señal.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch

señalé

7 ch

señales

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: señalé is [seɲaˈle] while señales is [seˈɲales]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49957, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

señalé is recorded at frequency rank #46,808, classified as averb, pronounced [seɲaˈle]. 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 49957, this pair ranks #105,907 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of señalé vs señales

Shared letters: aelsñ. Private to "señalé": é. Private to "señales": -.

"señalé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "señales" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

señalé#46,808

señales#3,149

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "señalé" and "señales" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "señalé" is a verb and "señales" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "señalé" or "señales"?

"señales" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,149 in our Spanish list, against #46,808 for "señalé". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering señalé vs señales

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “señalé”; for a noun, it's “señales”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “señalé” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable