Which to use
“antigua” and “antiguo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,665
- “antigua” frequency rank
- #1,467
- “antiguo” frequency rank
- 3132
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | antigua | antiguo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del femenino de antiguo. | Que existe desde hace un periodo de tiempo relativamente largo. |
Where the eye mixes antigua and antiguo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. antigua and antiguo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses antigua with antiguo
A purely visual mix-up. antigua ([ãn̪ˈt̪iɣ̞wa]) and antiguo ([ãn̪ˈt̪iɣ̞wo]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - a in “antigua” becomes o in “antiguo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3132, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
antigua is recorded at frequency rank #1,665, classified as anadj, pronounced [ãn̪ˈt̪iɣ̞wa]. antiguo is at rank #1,467, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ãn̪ˈt̪iɣ̞wo].
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 3132, this pair ranks #318,972 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of antigua vs antiguo
Shared letters: agintu. Private to "antigua": -. Private to "antiguo": o.
"antigua" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV · "antiguo" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "antigua" for "antiguo" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "antigua" or "antiguo" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "antigua" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "antiguo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #318,972 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "antigua" and "antiguo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "antígeno vs antiguo". 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 #318,972 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.