Which to use
“sólo” is an adverb and “sopla” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #127
- “sólo” frequency rank
- #20,835
- “sopla” frequency rank
- 20962
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sólo | sopla |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de soplar. |
Where the eye mixes sólo and sopla
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. sólo runs 4 letters (CVCV) against sopla's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between sólo and sopla
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sólo is [ˈsolo] while sopla is [ˈsopla]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20962, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sólo is recorded at frequency rank #127, classified as anadv, pronounced [ˈsolo]. sopla is at rank #20,835, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈsopla].
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 20962, this pair ranks #256,995 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sólo vs sopla
Shared letters: los. Private to "sólo": ó. Private to "sopla": ap.
"sólo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "sopla" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- sopla ← ospla · solpa · sopal · soplla · soppla · spola · ssopla
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sólo" for "sopla" ever safe?
Which is more common, "sólo" or "sopla"?
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 "sólo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sopla" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #256,995 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sólo" and "sopla" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sila vs sopla". 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 #256,995 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.