aesvsagoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#43,355
“aes” frequency rank
#13,603
“ago” frequency rank
56958
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aes ago
Definition Fácil. Hace.

Where the eye mixes aes and ago

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
aes
3 ch
ago

Why the eye confuses aes with ago

A purely visual mix-up. aes ([ˈɛːs]) and ago (/əˈɡəʊ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56958, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aes is recorded at frequency rank #43,355, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɛːs]. ago is at rank #13,603, tagged as anadj, pronounced /əˈɡəʊ/.

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 56958, this pair ranks #72,424 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of aes vs ago

Shared letters: a. Private to "aes": es. Private to "ago": go.

"aes" · 3 letters · shape VVC  ·  "ago" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aes" for "ago" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɛːs] versus /əˈɡəʊ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aes" or "ago"?
"ago" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,603 in our Spanish list, against #43,355 for "aes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ago" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #72,424 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aes" and "ago" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aes vs apis". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #72,424 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