suciovssufijoWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: sucio is a adjective, sufijo is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sucio” is an adjective and “sufijo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,012
“sucio” frequency rank
#31,562
“sufijo” frequency rank
37574
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sucio sufijo
Definition Se dice de lo que no está limpio. Una o más letras que se agregan al final de una palabra o raíz para modificar su función gramatical o para formar una nueva palabra.

Where the eye mixes sucio and sufijo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. sucio runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against sufijo's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
sucio
6 ch
sufijo

Look-alike desk: sucio vs sufijo

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sucio is [ˈsusjo] while sufijo is [suˈfixo]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37574, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sucio is recorded at frequency rank #6,012, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈsusjo]. sufijo is at rank #31,562, tagged as anoun, pronounced [suˈfixo].

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 37574, this pair ranks #174,600 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sucio vs sufijo

Shared letters: iosu. Private to "sucio": c. Private to "sufijo": fj.

"sucio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "sufijo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sucio ← scuio · ssucio · succio · sucoi · suico · susio · uscio
  • sufijo ← sfuijo · ssufijo · suffijo · sufijjo · sufioj · sufjio · suifjo · usfijo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sucio" and "sufijo" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sucio" is an adjective and "sufijo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sucio" or "sufijo"?
"sucio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,012 in our Spanish list, against #31,562 for "sufijo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "sucio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sufijo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #174,600 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sucio" and "sufijo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "súbito vs sufijo". 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 #174,600 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list