vavsvasTell them apart

Which to use

“va” and “vas” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#98
“va” frequency rank
#323
“vas” frequency rank
421
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature va vas
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de ir. Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del presente de indicativo de ir o de irse.

Where the eye mixes va and vas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

2 ch
va
3 ch
vas

Visual trap between va and vas

A purely visual mix-up. va ([ˈba]) and vas ([ˈbas]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “va” sits inside “vas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 421, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

va is recorded at frequency rank #98, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈba]. vas is at rank #323, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbas].

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 421, this pair ranks #323,440 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of va vs vas

Shared letters: av. Private to "va": -. Private to "vas": s.

"va" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "vas" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "va" for "vas" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈba] versus [ˈbas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "va" or "vas"?
"va" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #98 in our Spanish list, against #323 for "vas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "va" and "vas" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "va" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #323,440 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "va" and "vas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vas vs VOR". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #323,440 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