fijo vs filón, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“fijo” is an adjective and “filón” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,844
“fijo” frequency rank: #42,452
“filón” frequency rank: 46296
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	fijo	filón
Definition	Que está bien atado, apretado o asegurado.	Masa metálifera o pétrea que llena una grieta de las rocas, frecuentemente depositada por sedimentación de aguas subterráneas o de origen volcánico.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fijo and filón apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

fijo

5 ch

filón

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fijo is [ˈfixo] while filón is [fiˈlõn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46296, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fijo is recorded at frequency rank #3,844, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfixo]. filón is at rank #42,452, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fiˈlõn].

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 46296, this pair ranks #126,551 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fijo vs filón

Shared letters: fi. Private to "fijo": jo. Private to "filón": lnó.

"fijo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "filón" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

fijo ← ffijo · fijjo · fioj · fjio · ifjo

Frequency comparison

fijo#3,844

filón#42,452

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fijo" and "filón" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fijo" is an adjective and "filón" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "fijo" or "filón"?

"fijo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,844 in our Spanish list, against #42,452 for "filón". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering fijo vs filón

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “fijo”; for a noun, it's “filón”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fijo” entry
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