Which to use
“aqua” is a noun and “aquí” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,441
- “aqua” frequency rank
- #143
- “aquí” frequency rank
- 34584
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aqua | aquí |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Agua. | En la proximidad del que habla o comunica. |
Where the eye mixes aqua and aquí
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. aqua and aquí follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: aqua vs aquí
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aqua is /ˈa.kʷa/ while aquí is [aˈki]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “aqua” becomes í in “aquí”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34584, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aqua is recorded at frequency rank #34,441, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈa.kʷa/. aquí is at rank #143, tagged as anadv, pronounced [aˈki].
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 34584, this pair ranks #190,618 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of aqua vs aquí
Shared letters: aqu. Private to "aqua": -. Private to "aquí": í.
"aqua" · 4 letters · shape VCVV · "aquí" · 4 letters · shape VCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- aqua ← aqau · aqqua · auqa · qaua
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "aqua" and "aquí" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "aqua" or "aquí" 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 "aqua" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aquí" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #190,618 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aqua" and "aquí" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aqua vs aqueja". 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 #190,618 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.