vavsvioWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#98
“va” frequency rank
#1,334
“vio” frequency rank
1432
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature va vio
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de ir. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de ver o de verse.

Where the eye mixes va and vio

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

2 ch
va
3 ch
vio

Why the eye confuses va with vio

A purely visual mix-up. va ([ˈba]) and vio ([ˈbjo]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1432, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

va is recorded at frequency rank #98, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈba]. vio is at rank #1,334, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbjo].

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 1432, this pair ranks #322,072 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of va vs vio

Shared letters: v. Private to "va": a. Private to "vio": io.

"va" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "vio" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "va" and "vio" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈba] versus [ˈbjo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "va" or "vio"?
"va" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #98 in our Spanish list, against #1,334 for "vio". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "va" and "vio" 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 "vio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #322,072 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "va" and "vio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vio vs VOR". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #322,072 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