espaciovsestaciónWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#625
“espacio” frequency rank
#1,343
“estación” frequency rank
1968
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature espacio estación
Definition El contenido de un volumen, el conjunto de puntos, áreas ocupadas por un objeto. Detención temporaria en un viaje.

Where the eye mixes espacio and estación

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
espacio
8 ch
estación

Why the eye confuses espacio with estación

A purely visual mix-up. espacio ([esˈpasjo]) and estación ([est̪aˈsjõn]) 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 1968, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

espacio is recorded at frequency rank #625, classified as anoun, pronounced [esˈpasjo]. estación is at rank #1,343, tagged as anoun, pronounced [est̪aˈsjõn].

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 1968, this pair ranks #321,192 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of espacio vs estación

Shared letters: aceis. Private to "espacio": op. Private to "estación": ntó.

"espacio" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV  ·  "estación" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • espacioepsacio · esapcio · espaccio · espacoi · espaico · espasio · espcaio · esppacio

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "espacio" for "estación" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([esˈpasjo] versus [est̪aˈsjõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "espacio" vs "estación" - which ranks higher?
"espacio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #625 in our Spanish list, against #1,343 for "estación". 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 "espacio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "estación" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #321,192 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "espacio" and "estación" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "espacio vs esparció". 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 #321,192 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