ahvsahiWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ah is a intj, ahi is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ah” is an intj and “ahi” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#699
“ah” frequency rank
#2,101
“ahi” frequency rank
2800
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ah ahi
Definition Denota tristeza o decepción. Fuego

Where the eye mixes ah and ahi

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

2 ch
ah
3 ch
ahi

Look-alike desk: ah vs ahi

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ah is [ˈa] while ahi is [ˈa.hi]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “ah” sits inside “ahi”, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2800, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ah is recorded at frequency rank #699, classified as anintj, pronounced [ˈa]. ahi is at rank #2,101, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈa.hi].

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 2800, this pair ranks #319,610 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ah vs ahi

Shared letters: ah. Private to "ah": -. Private to "ahi": i.

"ah" · 2 letters · shape VC  ·  "ahi" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ah" for "ahi" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ah" is an intj and "ahi" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "ah" or "ahi" show up more?
"ah" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #699 in our Spanish list, against #2,101 for "ahi". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ah" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ahi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #319,610 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ah" and "ahi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ahi vs apis". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #319,610 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