Which to use
“sustituir” and “sustituye” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,883
- “sustituir” frequency rank
- #15,970
- “sustituye” frequency rank
- 24853
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sustituir | sustituye |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Poner una cosa o persona en lugar de otra. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de sustituir. |
Where the eye mixes sustituir and sustituye
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. sustituir (CVCCVCVVC) and sustituye (CVCCVCVVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: sustituir vs sustituye
A purely visual mix-up. sustituir ([sust̪iˈt̪wiɾ]) and sustituye ([sust̪iˈt̪uʝe]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24853, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sustituir is recorded at frequency rank #8,883, classified as averb, pronounced [sust̪iˈt̪wiɾ]. sustituye is at rank #15,970, tagged as averb, pronounced [sust̪iˈt̪uʝe].
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 24853, this pair ranks #239,202 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sustituir vs sustituye
Shared letters: istu. Private to "sustituir": r. Private to "sustituye": ey.
"sustituir" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC · "sustituye" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sustituir" for "sustituye" ever safe?
Which is more common, "sustituir" or "sustituye"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sustituir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sustituye" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #239,202 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sustituir" and "sustituye" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sustituta vs sustituye". 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 #239,202 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.