Which to use
“lavabo” is a noun and “lavo” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,282
- “lavabo” frequency rank
- #26,508
- “lavo” frequency rank
- 53790
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lavabo | lavo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pila dedicada al aseo de la parte superior del cuerpo. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de lavar. |
Where the eye mixes lavabo and lavo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lavabo runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against lavo's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between lavabo and lavo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lavabo is [laˈβ̞aβ̞o] while lavo is [ˈlaβ̞o]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53790, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lavabo is recorded at frequency rank #27,282, classified as anoun, pronounced [laˈβ̞aβ̞o]. 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 53790, this pair ranks #86,192 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lavabo vs lavo
Shared letters: alov. Private to "lavabo": b. Private to "lavo": -.
"lavabo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "lavo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lavabo" for "lavo" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lavabo" vs "lavo" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "lavabo" and "lavo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lavabo" 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 #86,192 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lavabo" and "lavo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lavabo vs lavaron". 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 #86,192 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.