Which to use
“oír” is a verb and “old” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,866
- “oír” frequency rank
- #11,277
- “old” frequency rank
- 15143
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | oír | old |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Percibir sonidos con el oído. | Viejo, anciano. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set oír and old apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: oír is [oˈiɾ] while old is /ˈəʊld/. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15143, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
oír is recorded at frequency rank #3,866, classified as averb, pronounced [oˈiɾ]. old is at rank #11,277, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈəʊld/.
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 15143, this pair ranks #281,355 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of oír vs old
Shared letters: o. Private to "oír": rí. Private to "old": dl.
"oír" · 3 letters · shape VVC · "old" · 3 letters · shape VCC