avanzarvsavanzóConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,394
“avanzar” frequency rank
#15,287
“avanzó” frequency rank
19681
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature avanzar avanzó
Definition Mover hacia adelante en el tiempo o en el espacio. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de avanzar.

Where the eye mixes avanzar and avanzó

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. avanzar runs 7 letters (VCVCCVC) against avanzó's 6 (VCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
avanzar
6 ch
avanzó

Look-alike desk: avanzar vs avanzó

A purely visual mix-up. avanzar ([aβ̞ãnˈsaɾ]) and avanzó ([aβ̞ãnˈso]) 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 19681, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

avanzar is recorded at frequency rank #4,394, classified as averb, pronounced [aβ̞ãnˈsaɾ]. avanzó is at rank #15,287, tagged as averb, pronounced [aβ̞ãnˈso].

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 19681, this pair ranks #262,674 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of avanzar vs avanzó

Shared letters: anvz. Private to "avanzar": r. Private to "avanzó": ó.

"avanzar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC  ·  "avanzó" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • avanzar ← aavnzar · abanzar · avanazr · avannzar · avanzarr · avanzra · avanzzar · avaznar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "avanzar" for "avanzó" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aβ̞ãnˈsaɾ] versus [aβ̞ãnˈso]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "avanzar" or "avanzó" show up more?
"avanzar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,394 in our Spanish list, against #15,287 for "avanzó". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "avanzar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "avanzó" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #262,674 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "avanzar" and "avanzó" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "avant vs avanzó". 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 #262,674 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