ajívsapoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#29,912
“ají” frequency rank
#44,553
“apo” frequency rank
74465
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ají apo
Definition Fruto comestible de diversas especies del género Capsicum, usualmente picante, que se emplea como condimento. Tarea.

Where the eye mixes ají and apo

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

3 ch
ají
3 ch
apo

Look-alike desk: ají vs apo

A purely visual mix-up. ají ([aˈxi]) and apo (/aˈpo/) 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 74465, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ají is recorded at frequency rank #29,912, classified as anoun, pronounced [aˈxi]. apo is at rank #44,553, tagged as anoun, pronounced /aˈpo/.

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 74465, this pair ranks #21,272 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ají vs apo

Shared letters: a. Private to "ají": . Private to "apo": op.

"ají" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "apo" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ají" for "apo" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aˈxi] versus /aˈpo/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ají" or "apo"?
"ají" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,912 in our Spanish list, against #44,553 for "apo". 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 "ají" and "apo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ají" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "apo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #21,272 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ají" and "apo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apis vs apo". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #21,272 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