haciavshacíasWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hacia is a preposition, hacías is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hacia” is a preposition and “hacías” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#209
“hacia” frequency rank
#17,163
“hacías” frequency rank
17372
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hacia hacías
Definition Indica la dirección del movimiento con relación a su destino aparente o real. Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de hacer o de hacerse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hacia and hacías apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
hacia
6 ch
hacías

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hacia is [ˈasja] while hacías is [aˈsias]. 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 (preposition vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17372, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hacia is recorded at frequency rank #209, classified as aprep, pronounced [ˈasja]. hacías is at rank #17,163, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈsias].

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 17372, this pair ranks #272,405 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hacia vs hacías

Shared letters: ach. Private to "hacia": i. Private to "hacías": .

"hacia" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "hacías" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • haciaahcia · hacai · haccia · haica · hasia · hcaia · hhacia

Frequency comparison

hacia#209
hacías#17,163

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hacia" and "hacías" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hacia" is a preposition and "hacías" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hacia" or "hacías"?
"hacia" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #209 in our Spanish list, against #17,163 for "hacías". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering hacia vs hacías

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a preposition, it's “hacia”; for a verb, it's “hacías”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hacia” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list