miedovsmingoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#487
“miedo” frequency rank
#46,668
“mingo” frequency rank
47155
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature miedo mingo
Definition Emoción de ansiedad difícil de controlar causada por algo que puede causar algún daño físico, emocional, patrimonial etc. Tanto el objeto que causa el miedo como la posibilidad de causar daño pueden ser reales o imaginarios. Orinar, miccionar, mear.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set miedo and mingo apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
miedo
5 ch
mingo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: miedo is [ˈmjeð̞o] while mingo is [ˈmɪŋ.goː]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47155, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

miedo is recorded at frequency rank #487, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmjeð̞o]. mingo is at rank #46,668, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmɪŋ.goː].

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 47155, this pair ranks #121,624 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of miedo vs mingo

Shared letters: imo. Private to "miedo": de. Private to "mingo": gn.

"miedo" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "mingo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • miedoimedo · mideo · mieddo · mieod · mmiedo
  • mingoimngo · migno · minggo · minngo · minog · mmingo · mnigo

Frequency comparison

miedo#487
mingo#46,668

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "miedo" and "mingo" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "miedo" is a noun and "mingo" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "miedo" or "mingo"?
"miedo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #487 in our Spanish list, against #46,668 for "mingo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering miedo vs mingo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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