ostvsoyeWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#33,259
“ost” frequency rank
#2,088
“oye” frequency rank
35347
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ost oye
Definition Queso. Se usa para llamar sobre sí mismo la atención de otra persona.

Where the eye mixes ost and oye

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

3 ch
ost
3 ch
oye

Visual trap between ost and oye

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ost is [ˈʊst] 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 (noun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35347, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ost is recorded at frequency rank #33,259, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʊst]. 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 35347, this pair ranks #186,587 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ost vs oye

Shared letters: o. Private to "ost": st. Private to "oye": ey.

"ost" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "oye" · 3 letters · shape VVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ost" and "oye" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ost" is a noun and "oye" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "ost" vs "oye" - which ranks higher?
"oye" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,088 in our Spanish list, against #33,259 for "ost". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ost" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "oye" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #186,587 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ost" and "oye" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ome vs ost". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #186,587 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