fiovsfloTell them apart

Which to use

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

#33,129
“fio” frequency rank
#33,131
“flo” frequency rank
66260
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fio flo
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de fiar. Dicho del viento: soplar.

Where the eye mixes fio and flo

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

3 ch
fio
3 ch
flo

Visual trap between fio and flo

A purely visual mix-up. fio ([ˈfjo]) and flo (/ˈfloː/) 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 a single letter - i in “fio” becomes l in “flo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66260, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fio is recorded at frequency rank #33,129, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfjo]. flo is at rank #33,131, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈfloː/.

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 66260, this pair ranks #40,332 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fio vs flo

Shared letters: fo. Private to "fio": i. Private to "flo": l.

"fio" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "flo" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fio" and "flo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfjo] versus /ˈfloː/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fio" or "flo"?
"fio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,129 in our Spanish list, against #33,131 for "flo". 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 "fio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "flo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #40,332 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fio" and "flo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filos vs flo". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #40,332 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