Which to use
“ago” is an adjective and “año” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,603
- “ago” frequency rank
- #100
- “año” frequency rank
- 13703
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ago | año |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Hace. | Intervalo de tiempo que tarda la Tierra en hacer una revolución alrededor del Sol. El año se compone de 365 días y cuarto aproximadamente. Por eso cada cuatro años el año civil tiene un día más. |
Where the eye mixes ago and año
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ago and año
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ago is /əˈɡəʊ/ while año is [ˈaɲo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - g in “ago” becomes ñ in “año”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13703, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ago is recorded at frequency rank #13,603, classified as anadj, pronounced /əˈɡəʊ/. año is at rank #100, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaɲo].
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 13703, this pair ranks #286,847 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ago vs año
Shared letters: ao. Private to "ago": g. Private to "año": ñ.
"ago" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "año" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ago" for "año" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ago" vs "año" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ago" and "año" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ago" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "año" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #286,847 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ago" and "año" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ago vs alió". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #286,847 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.