hilovshuyóConfusable pair

Quick tell: hilo is a noun, huyó is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hilo” is a noun and “huyó” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,789
“hilo” frequency rank
#10,151
“huyó” frequency rank
13940
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hilo huyó
Definition Fibra textil delgada, formada por pocas hebras, de largo variable. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de huir.

Where the eye mixes hilo and huyó

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

4 ch
hilo
4 ch
huyó

Look-alike desk: hilo vs huyó

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hilo is [ˈilo] while huyó is [uˈʝo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13940, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hilo is recorded at frequency rank #3,789, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈilo]. huyó is at rank #10,151, tagged as averb, pronounced [uˈʝo].

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 13940, this pair ranks #285,994 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hilo vs huyó

Shared letters: h. Private to "hilo": ilo. Private to "huyó": uyó.

"hilo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "huyó" · 4 letters · shape CVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hilohhilo · hillo · hiol · hlio · ihlo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "hilo" and "huyó" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hilo" is a noun and "huyó" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "hilo" vs "huyó" - which ranks higher?
"hilo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,789 in our Spanish list, against #10,151 for "huyó". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "hilo" and "huyó" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hilo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "huyó" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #285,994 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hilo" and "huyó" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "huey vs huyó". 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 #285,994 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