tranquilavstranquiloWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,522
“tranquila” frequency rank
#2,139
“tranquilo” frequency rank
5661
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tranquila tranquilo
Definition Forma del femenino de tranquilo. Pacífico, sin conmoción, calmado.

Where the eye mixes tranquila and tranquilo

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

9 ch
tranquila
9 ch
tranquilo

Why the eye confuses tranquila with tranquilo

A purely visual mix-up. tranquila ([t̪ɾãŋˈkila]) and tranquilo ([t̪ɾãŋˈkilo]) 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 a single letter - a in “tranquila” becomes o in “tranquilo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5661, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tranquila is recorded at frequency rank #3,522, classified as anadj, pronounced [t̪ɾãŋˈkila]. tranquilo is at rank #2,139, tagged as anadj, pronounced [t̪ɾãŋˈkilo].

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 5661, this pair ranks #313,027 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tranquila vs tranquilo

Shared letters: ailnqrtu. Private to "tranquila": -. Private to "tranquilo": o.

"tranquila" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVVCV  ·  "tranquilo" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tranquilartanquila · tarnquila · trannquila · tranqiula · tranqquila · tranquial · tranquilla · tranqulia
  • tranquilortanquilo · tarnquilo · trannquilo · tranqiulo · tranqquilo · tranquillo · tranquiol · tranqulio

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tranquila" for "tranquilo" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([t̪ɾãŋˈkila] versus [t̪ɾãŋˈkilo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tranquila" or "tranquilo"?
"tranquilo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,139 in our Spanish list, against #3,522 for "tranquila". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "tranquila" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tranquilo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #313,027 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tranquila" and "tranquilo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tranquila vs tranquiliza". 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 #313,027 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