tornillovstornillosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,103
“tornillo” frequency rank
#21,516
“tornillos” frequency rank
39619
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tornillo tornillos
Definition Pieza de forma cilíndrica o cónica, con una estría helicoidal a lo largo que permite enroscarla en otro objeto. Algunos pueden enroscarse solos, otros requieren tuercas para fijarlos. Forma del plural de tornillo.

Where the eye mixes tornillo and tornillos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

8 ch
tornillo
9 ch
tornillos

Look-alike desk: tornillo vs tornillos

A purely visual mix-up. tornillo ([t̪oɾˈniʝo]) and tornillos ([t̪oɾˈniʝos]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “tornillo” sits inside “tornillos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39619, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tornillo is recorded at frequency rank #18,103, classified as anoun, pronounced [t̪oɾˈniʝo]. tornillos is at rank #21,516, tagged as anoun, pronounced [t̪oɾˈniʝos].

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 39619, this pair ranks #163,552 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tornillo vs tornillos

Shared letters: ilnort. Private to "tornillo": -. Private to "tornillos": s.

"tornillo" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "tornillos" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tornillootrnillo · tonrillo · torinllo · tornilo · tornilol · tornlilo · tornnillo · torrnillo
  • tornillosotrnillos · tonrillos · torinllos · tornilloss · tornillso · tornilols · tornilos · tornlilos

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tornillo" and "tornillos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([t̪oɾˈniʝo] versus [t̪oɾˈniʝos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tornillo" or "tornillos"?
"tornillo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,103 in our Spanish list, against #21,516 for "tornillos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tornillo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tornillos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #163,552 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tornillo" and "tornillos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tornillo vs trillo". 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 #163,552 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