Which to use
“sole” is a noun and “sólo” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,849
- “sole” frequency rank
- #127
- “sólo” frequency rank
- 33976
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sole | sólo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sol | Grafía alternativa de solo (adverbio). Cada vez que deba entenderse como equivalente de solamente y sea posible la confusión con el adjetivo homónimo, es optativo tildar la palabra para desambiguar. |
Where the eye mixes sole and sólo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between sole and sólo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sole is /ˈsole/ while sólo is [ˈsolo]. 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 adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33976, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sole is recorded at frequency rank #33,849, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsole/. sólo is at rank #127, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˈsolo].
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 33976, this pair ranks #193,866 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sole vs sólo
Shared letters: los. Private to "sole": e. Private to "sólo": ó.
"sole" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "sólo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- sole ← osle · sloe · soel · solle · ssole
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sole" for "sólo" ever safe?
Which is more common, "sole" or "sólo"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sole" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sólo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #193,866 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sole" and "sólo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sila vs sole". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #193,866 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.