oírvsoyeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: oír is a verb, oye is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“oír” is a verb and “oye” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,866
“oír” frequency rank
#2,088
“oye” frequency rank
5954
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature oír oye
Definition Percibir sonidos con el oído. Se usa para llamar sobre sí mismo la atención de otra persona.

Where the eye mixes oír and oye

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
oír
3 ch
oye

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: oír is [oˈiɾ] while oye is [ˈoʝe]. 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 intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5954, 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]. oye is at rank #2,088, tagged as anintj, pronounced [ˈoʝe].

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 5954, this pair ranks #312,194 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of oír vs oye

Shared letters: o. Private to "oír": . Private to "oye": ey.

"oír" · 3 letters · shape VVC  ·  "oye" · 3 letters · shape VVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "oír" and "oye" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "oír" is a verb and "oye" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "oír" or "oye"?
"oye" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,088 in our Spanish list, against #3,866 for "oír". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list