Which to use
“sólo” is an adverb and “soya” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #127
- “sólo” frequency rank
- #22,871
- “soya” frequency rank
- 22998
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sólo | soya |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | (Glycine max) Planta de la familia de las fabáceas, cultivada por sus semillas de alto valor proteico utilizadas en alimentación y para la producción de aceite. |
Where the eye mixes sólo and soya
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: sólo vs soya
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sólo is [ˈsolo] while soya is [ˈsoʝa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22998, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sólo is recorded at frequency rank #127, classified as anadv, pronounced [ˈsolo]. soya is at rank #22,871, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsoʝa].
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 22998, this pair ranks #247,798 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sólo vs soya
Shared letters: os. Private to "sólo": ló. Private to "soya": ay.
"sólo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "soya" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- soya ← osya · soay · soyya · ssoya · syoa
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sólo" for "soya" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "sólo" or "soya" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sólo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "soya" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #247,798 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sólo" and "soya" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sila vs soya". 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 #247,798 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.