añejovsannoWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: añejo is a adjective, anno is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“añejo” is an adjective and “anno” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,834
“añejo” frequency rank
#40,121
“anno” frequency rank
82955
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature añejo anno
Definition Se dice de cosas, especialmente alimentos que mejoran con el tiempo, que tienen un año o más. Año

Where the eye mixes añejo and anno

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. añejo runs 5 letters (VCVCV) against anno's 4 (VCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
añejo
4 ch
anno

Visual trap between añejo and anno

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: añejo is [aˈɲexo] while anno is /ˈan.no/. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82955, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

añejo is recorded at frequency rank #42,834, classified as anadj, pronounced [aˈɲexo]. anno is at rank #40,121, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈan.no/.

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 82955, this pair ranks #8,657 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of añejo vs anno

Shared letters: ao. Private to "añejo": ejñ. Private to "anno": n.

"añejo" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "anno" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anno ← ano · anon · nano

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "añejo" for "anno" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "añejo" is an adjective and "anno" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "añejo" vs "anno" - which ranks higher?
"anno" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,121 in our Spanish list, against #42,834 for "añejo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "añejo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anno" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #8,657 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "añejo" and "anno" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abeto vs añejo". 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 #8,657 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