humanovshumoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: humano is a adjective, humo is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#1,018
“humano” frequency rank
#3,258
“humo” frequency rank
4276
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature humano humo
Definition Que pertenece o concierne a la especie llamada Homo sapiens, esto es, al hombre y a la mujer como especie. Producto visible de una combustión incompleta, formado por partículas de carbono en suspensión en un medio gaseoso.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
humano
4 ch
humo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: humano is [uˈmano] while humo is [ˈumo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 4276, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

humano is recorded at frequency rank #1,018, classified as anadj, pronounced [uˈmano]. humo is at rank #3,258, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈumo].

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 4276, this pair ranks #316,477 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of humano vs humo

Shared letters: hmou. Private to "humano": an. Private to "humo": -.

"humano" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "humo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • humanohhumano · hmuano · huamno · humanno · humaon · hummano · humnao · uhmano
  • humohhumo · hmuo · hummo · huom · uhmo

Frequency comparison

humano#1,018
humo#3,258

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "humano" and "humo" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "humano" is an adjective and "humo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "humano" or "humo"?
"humano" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,018 in our Spanish list, against #3,258 for "humo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering humano vs humo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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