aúnvsayaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: aún is a adverb, aya is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“aún” is an adverb and “aya” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#240
“aún” frequency rank
#17,355
“aya” frequency rank
17595
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aún aya
Definition Indica que el hecho persiste en el presente, aunque pueda cambiar en lo sucesivo.. Forma del femenino singular de ayo.

Where the eye mixes aún and aya

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

3 ch
aún
3 ch
aya

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aún is [aˈũn] while aya is [ˈaʝa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17595, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aún is recorded at frequency rank #240, classified as anadv, pronounced [aˈũn]. aya is at rank #17,355, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʝa].

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 17595, this pair ranks #271,492 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of aún vs aya

Shared letters: a. Private to "aún": . Private to "aya": y.

"aún" · 3 letters · shape VVC  ·  "aya" · 3 letters · shape VVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aún" and "aya" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "aún" is an adverb and "aya" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "aún" or "aya"?
"aún" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #240 in our Spanish list, against #17,355 for "aya". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "aún" and "aya". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aún" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aya" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #271,492 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aún" and "aya" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anta vs aya". Nearby pair

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list