ultimasvsúltimoWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: ultimas is a verb, último is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ultimas” is a verb and “último” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,579
“ultimas” frequency rank
#374
“último” frequency rank
13953
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ultimas último
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de ultimar. Que, en una serie de cosas o eventos, no tiene otro que lo siga.

Where the eye mixes ultimas and último

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ultimas runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against último's 6 (VCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
ultimas
6 ch
último

Look-alike desk: ultimas vs último

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ultimas is [ul̪ˈt̪imas] while último is [ˈul̪t̪imo]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13953, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ultimas is recorded at frequency rank #13,579, classified as averb, pronounced [ul̪ˈt̪imas]. último is at rank #374, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈul̪t̪imo].

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 13953, this pair ranks #285,937 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ultimas vs último

Shared letters: ilmt. Private to "ultimas": asu. Private to "último": oú.

"ultimas" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "último" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ultimas ← lutimas · ulitmas · ulltimas · ultiams · ultimass · ultimmas · ultimsa · ultmias

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ultimas" for "último" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ultimas" is a verb and "último" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ultimas" or "último"?
"último" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #374 in our Spanish list, against #13,579 for "ultimas". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ultimas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "último" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #285,937 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ultimas" and "último" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ultimas vs ultras". 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 #285,937 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