sacvsspyConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#33,834
“sac” frequency rank
#48,092
“spy” frequency rank
81926
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sac spy
Definition Bolsa. Espía.

Where the eye mixes sac and spy

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. sac (CVC) and spy (CCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
sac
3 ch
spy

Look-alike desk: sac vs spy

A purely visual mix-up. sac (/sak/) and spy (/spaɪ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81926, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sac is recorded at frequency rank #33,834, classified as anoun, pronounced /sak/. spy is at rank #48,092, tagged as anoun, pronounced /spaɪ/.

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 81926, this pair ranks #9,824 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sac vs spy

Shared letters: s. Private to "sac": ac. Private to "spy": py.

"sac" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "spy" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sac" and "spy" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/sak/ versus /spaɪ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sac" or "spy"?
"sac" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,834 in our Spanish list, against #48,092 for "spy". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sac" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "spy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #9,824 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sac" and "spy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sei vs spy". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #9,824 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