ávidovsaviséConfusable pair

Quick tell: ávido is a adjective, avisé is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ávido” is an adjective and “avisé” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#35,837
“ávido” frequency rank
#40,664
“avisé” frequency rank
76501
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ávido avisé
Definition Que siente un fuerte e intenso deseo de conseguir o hacer algo. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de avisar.

Where the eye mixes ávido and avisé

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ávido and avisé follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
ávido
5 ch
avisé

Why the eye confuses ávido with avisé

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ávido is [ˈaβ̞ið̞o] while avisé is [aβ̞iˈse]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ávido is recorded at frequency rank #35,837, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaβ̞ið̞o]. avisé is at rank #40,664, tagged as averb, pronounced [aβ̞iˈse].

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 76501, this pair ranks #17,639 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ávido vs avisé

Shared letters: iv. Private to "ávido": doá. Private to "avisé": asé.

"ávido" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "avisé" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ávido" and "avisé" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ávido" is an adjective and "avisé" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "ávido" or "avisé" show up more?
"ávido" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,837 in our Spanish list, against #40,664 for "avisé". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ávido" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "avisé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #17,639 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ávido" and "avisé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apis vs avisé". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #17,639 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