spasvsspotsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“spas” and “spots” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#42,628
“spas” frequency rank
#19,161
“spots” frequency rank
61789
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature spas spots
Definition Pluriel de spa. Pluriel de spot.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set spas and spots apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
spas
5 ch
spots

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. spas (\spa\) and spots (\spɔt\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61789, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

spas is recorded at frequency rank #42,628, classified as anoun, pronounced \spa\. spots is at rank #19,161, tagged as anoun, pronounced \spɔt\.

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 61789, this pair ranks #90,426 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of spas vs spots

Shared letters: ps. Private to "spas": a. Private to "spots": ot.

"spas" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "spots" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • spassaps · spass · sppas · spsa · sspas
  • spotssopts · spost · spotss · spotts · sppots · sptos · sspots

Frequency comparison

spas#42,628
spots#19,161

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "spas" and "spots" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\spa\ versus \spɔt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "spas" or "spots"?
"spots" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,161 in our French list, against #42,628 for "spas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering spas vs spots

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “spas” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list