finovsfioWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#7,166
“fino” frequency rank
#33,129
“fio” frequency rank
40295
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fino fio
Definition De muy buena calidad o factura. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de fiar.

Where the eye mixes fino and fio

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
fino
3 ch
fio

Look-alike desk: fino vs fio

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fino is [ˈfino] while fio is [ˈfjo]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40295, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fino is recorded at frequency rank #7,166, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfino]. fio is at rank #33,129, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfjo].

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 40295, this pair ranks #159,907 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fino vs fio

Shared letters: fio. Private to "fino": n. Private to "fio": -.

"fino" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "fio" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • finoffino · finno · fion · fnio

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fino" for "fio" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fino" is an adjective and "fio" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "fino" or "fio" show up more?
"fino" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,166 in our Spanish list, against #33,129 for "fio". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "fino" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #159,907 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fino" and "fio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filos vs fio". 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 #159,907 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