vitalvsvitalesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,292
“vital” frequency rank
#9,920
“vitales” frequency rank
14212
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vital vitales
Definition Que es relativo o propio de la vida. Forma del plural de vital.

Where the eye mixes vital and vitales

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. vital runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against vitales's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
vital
7 ch
vitales

Visual trap between vital and vitales

A purely visual mix-up. vital ([biˈt̪al]) and vitales ([biˈt̪ales]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “vital” sits inside “vitales”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14212, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vital is recorded at frequency rank #4,292, classified as anadj, pronounced [biˈt̪al]. vitales is at rank #9,920, tagged as anadj, pronounced [biˈt̪ales].

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 14212, this pair ranks #285,003 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vital vs vitales

Shared letters: ailtv. Private to "vital": -. Private to "vitales": es.

"vital" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "vitales" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vital ← bital · ivtal · viatl · vitall · vitla · vittal · vtial · vvital
  • vitales ← bitales · ivtales · viatles · vitaels · vitaless · vitalles · vitalse · vitlaes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "vital" and "vitales" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([biˈt̪al] versus [biˈt̪ales]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "vital" vs "vitales" - which ranks higher?
"vital" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,292 in our Spanish list, against #9,920 for "vitales". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "vital" and "vitales" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vital" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vitales" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #285,003 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vital" and "vitales" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vira vs vital". 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 #285,003 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