labiovslavoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#12,412
“labio” frequency rank
#26,508
“lavo” frequency rank
38920
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature labio lavo
Definition Cualquiera de los dos bordes carnosos y movibles de la boca. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de lavar.

Where the eye mixes labio and lavo

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

5 ch
labio
4 ch
lavo

Look-alike desk: labio vs lavo

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: labio is [ˈlaβ̞jo] while lavo is [ˈlaβ̞o]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38920, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

labio is recorded at frequency rank #12,412, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaβ̞jo]. lavo is at rank #26,508, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaβ̞o].

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 38920, this pair ranks #167,367 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of labio vs lavo

Shared letters: alo. Private to "labio": bi. Private to "lavo": v.

"labio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "lavo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • labioalbio · labbio · laboi · laibo · lavio · lbaio · llabio
  • lavoalvo · labo · laov · lavvo · llavo · lvao

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "labio" and "lavo" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "labio" is a noun and "lavo" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "labio" or "lavo" show up more?
"labio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,412 in our Spanish list, against #26,508 for "lavo". 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 "labio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lavo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #167,367 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "labio" and "lavo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lac vs lavo". 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 #167,367 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