agujavsaquejaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: aguja is a noun, aqueja is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“aguja” is a noun and “aqueja” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,095
“aguja” frequency rank
#48,812
“aqueja” frequency rank
58907
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aguja aqueja
Definition Barrita puntiaguda de metal, hueso o madera con un ojo por donde se pasa el hilo, cuerda, etc., con que se cose, borda o teje. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de aquejar.

Where the eye mixes aguja and aqueja

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. aguja runs 5 letters (VCVCV) against aqueja's 6 (VCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
aguja
6 ch
aqueja

Why the eye confuses aguja with aqueja

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aguja is [aˈɣ̞uxa] while aqueja is [aˈkexa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58907, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aguja is recorded at frequency rank #10,095, classified as anoun, pronounced [aˈɣ̞uxa]. aqueja is at rank #48,812, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈkexa].

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 58907, this pair ranks #64,655 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of aguja vs aqueja

Shared letters: aju. Private to "aguja": g. Private to "aqueja": eq.

"aguja" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "aqueja" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aguja ← agguja · agjua · aguaj · agujja · augja · gauja
  • aqueja ← aqeuja · aqqueja · aqueaj · aquejja · aqujea · auqeja · qaueja

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aguja" for "aqueja" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "aguja" is a noun and "aqueja" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "aguja" or "aqueja" show up more?
"aguja" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,095 in our Spanish list, against #48,812 for "aqueja". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "aguja" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aqueja" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #64,655 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aguja" and "aqueja" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aqueja vs aquila". 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 #64,655 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