suavssuciaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sua is a pronoun, sucia is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sua” is a pronoun and “sucia” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,466
“sua” frequency rank
#6,596
“sucia” frequency rank
51062
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sua sucia
Definition Forma del nominativo femenino singular de suus. Forma del femenino singular de sucio.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sua and sucia apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
sua
5 ch
sucia

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sua is /ˈsʷa/ while sucia is [ˈsusja]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51062, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sua is recorded at frequency rank #44,466, classified as apron, pronounced /ˈsʷa/. sucia is at rank #6,596, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈsusja].

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 51062, this pair ranks #99,867 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sua vs sucia

Shared letters: asu. Private to "sua": -. Private to "sucia": ci.

"sua" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "sucia" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • suciascuia · ssucia · sucai · succia · suica · susia · uscia

Frequency comparison

sua#44,466
sucia#6,596

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sua" and "sucia" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sua" is a pronoun and "sucia" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sua" or "sucia"?
"sucia" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,596 in our Spanish list, against #44,466 for "sua". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sua vs sucia

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “sua”; for an adjective, it's “sucia”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sua” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list