sí vs spy, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“sí” is an adverb and “spy” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#146
“sí” frequency rank: #48,092
“spy” frequency rank: 48238
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	sí	spy
Definition	Palabra usada para expresar afirmación.	Espía.

Where the eye mixes sí and spy

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

2 ch

sí

3 ch

spy

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sí is [ˈsi] while spy is /spaɪ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48238, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sí is recorded at frequency rank #146, classified as anadv, pronounced [ˈsi]. 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 48238, this pair ranks #115,588 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sí vs spy

Shared letters: s. Private to "sí": í. Private to "spy": py.

"sí" · 2 letters · shape CV · "spy" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sí" and "spy" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sí" is an adverb and "spy" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "sí" or "spy"?

"sí" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #146 in our Spanish list, against #48,092 for "spy". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.