sapovsspyWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,956
“sapo” frequency rank
#48,092
“spy” frequency rank
63048
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sapo spy
Definition Cualquiera de numerosas especies de batracios anuros, de cuerpo robusto, piel rugosa y hábitos anfibios; no constituyen un clado filogenético, distinguiéndose de las ranas solo por su apariencia. Espía.

Where the eye mixes sapo and spy

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
sapo
3 ch
spy

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. sapo ([ˈsapo]) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63048, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sapo is recorded at frequency rank #14,956, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈsapo]. 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 63048, this pair ranks #50,028 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sapo vs spy

Shared letters: ps. Private to "sapo": ao. Private to "spy": y.

"sapo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "spy" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sapoaspo · saop · sappo · spao · ssapo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sapo" and "spy" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈsapo] versus /spaɪ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sapo" or "spy"?
"sapo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,956 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list