oídovsolvidoTell them apart

Which to use

“oído” and “olvido” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,737
“oído” frequency rank
#3,644
“olvido” frequency rank
6381
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature oído olvido
Definition Sentido mediante el cual percibimos el sonido. Extinción de un recuerdo.

Where the eye mixes oído and olvido

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

4 ch
oído
6 ch
olvido

Why the eye confuses oído with olvido

A purely visual mix-up. oído ([oˈið̞o]) and olvido ([olˈβ̞ið̞o]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6381, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

oído is recorded at frequency rank #2,737, classified as anoun, pronounced [oˈið̞o]. olvido is at rank #3,644, tagged as anoun, pronounced [olˈβ̞ið̞o].

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 6381, this pair ranks #310,954 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of oído vs olvido

Shared letters: do. Private to "oído": í. Private to "olvido": ilv.

"oído" · 4 letters · shape VVCV  ·  "olvido" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • olvidolovido · olbido · olivdo · ollvido · olvdio · olviddo · olviod · olvvido

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "oído" for "olvido" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([oˈið̞o] versus [olˈβ̞ið̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "oído" vs "olvido" - which ranks higher?
"oído" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,737 in our Spanish list, against #3,644 for "olvido". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "oído" and "olvido" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "oído" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "olvido" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #310,954 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "oído" and "olvido" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "oído vs ojito". 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 #310,954 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