lluevavslluviaWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#24,937
“llueva” frequency rank
#2,120
“lluvia” frequency rank
27057
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature llueva lluvia
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de llover. Conjunto de gotas de agua producidas por la condensación del agua y que se precipitan del cielo sobre la tierra.

Where the eye mixes llueva and lluvia

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
llueva
6 ch
lluvia

Why the eye confuses llueva with lluvia

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: llueva is [ˈʝweβ̞a] while lluvia is [ˈʝuβ̞ja]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27057, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

llueva is recorded at frequency rank #24,937, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʝweβ̞a]. lluvia is at rank #2,120, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʝuβ̞ja].

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 27057, this pair ranks #228,657 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of llueva vs lluvia

Shared letters: aluv. Private to "llueva": e. Private to "lluvia": i.

"llueva" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV  ·  "lluvia" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lluevalleuva · llueav · llueba · lluevva · lluvea · lueva · luleva
  • lluviallubia · lluiva · lluvai · lluvvia · llvuia · lulvia · luvia

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "llueva" for "lluvia" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "llueva" is a verb and "lluvia" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "llueva" or "lluvia" show up more?
"lluvia" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,120 in our Spanish list, against #24,937 for "llueva". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "llueva" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lluvia" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #228,657 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "llueva" and "lluvia" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leva vs llueva". 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 #228,657 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