fajovsfiloWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#43,590
“fajo” frequency rank
#10,668
“filo” frequency rank
54258
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fajo filo
Definition Haz o atado. En un instrumento cortante, el borde agudo que corta.

Where the eye mixes fajo and filo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
fajo
4 ch
filo

Look-alike desk: fajo vs filo

A purely visual mix-up. fajo ([ˈfaxo]) and filo ([ˈfilo]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54258, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fajo is recorded at frequency rank #43,590, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaxo]. filo is at rank #10,668, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfilo].

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 54258, this pair ranks #84,131 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fajo vs filo

Shared letters: fo. Private to "fajo": aj. Private to "filo": il.

"fajo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "filo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fajoafjo · fajjo · faoj · ffajo · fjao
  • filoffilo · fillo · fiol · flio · iflo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fajo" and "filo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfaxo] versus [ˈfilo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fajo" or "filo"?
"filo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,668 in our Spanish list, against #43,590 for "fajo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "fajo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "filo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #84,131 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fajo" and "filo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "facho vs fajo". 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 #84,131 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