aquívsasíWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#143
“aquí” frequency rank
#55
“así” frequency rank
198
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aquí así
Definition En la proximidad del que habla o comunica. De este modo o forma.

Where the eye mixes aquí and así

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. aquí runs 4 letters (VCVV) against así's 3 (VCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
aquí
3 ch
así

Why the eye confuses aquí with así

A purely visual mix-up. aquí ([aˈki]) and así ([aˈsi]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 198, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aquí is recorded at frequency rank #143, classified as anadv, pronounced [aˈki]. así is at rank #55, tagged as anadv, pronounced [aˈsi].

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 198, this pair ranks #323,674 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of aquí vs así

Shared letters: . Private to "aquí": qu. Private to "así": s.

"aquí" · 4 letters · shape VCVV  ·  "así" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aquí" for "así" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aˈki] versus [aˈsi]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "aquí" or "así" show up more?
"así" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #55 in our Spanish list, against #143 for "aquí". 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 "aquí" and "así" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aquí" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "así" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #323,674 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aquí" and "así" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apis vs así". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #323,674 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