Which to use
“act” is a noun and “así” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,000
- “act” frequency rank
- #55
- “así” frequency rank
- 15055
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | act | así |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Acto, acción. | De este modo o forma. |
Where the eye mixes act and así
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between act and así
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: act is /ækt/ while así is [aˈsi]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15055, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
act is recorded at frequency rank #15,000, classified as anoun, pronounced /ækt/. así is at rank #55, tagged as anadv, pronounced [aˈsi].
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 15055, this pair ranks #281,672 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of act vs así
Shared letters: a. Private to "act": ct. Private to "así": sí.
"act" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "así" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "act" for "así" ever safe?
Frequency check: "act" vs "así" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "act" and "así" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "act" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "así" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #281,672 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "act" and "así" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "act vs anta". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #281,672 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.