vacíavsvacíoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,085
“vacía” frequency rank
#2,753
“vacío” frequency rank
9838
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vacía vacío
Definition Forma del femenino singular de vacío. Que físicamente no contiene nada.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vacía and vacío apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
vacía
5 ch
vacío

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. vacía ([baˈsia]) and vacío ([baˈsio]) 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 a single letter - a in “vacía” becomes o in “vacío”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9838, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vacía is recorded at frequency rank #7,085, classified as anadj, pronounced [baˈsia]. vacío is at rank #2,753, tagged as anadj, pronounced [baˈsio].

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 9838, this pair ranks #300,674 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vacía vs vacío

Shared letters: acví. Private to "vacía": -. Private to "vacío": o.

"vacía" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "vacío" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Frequency comparison

vacía#7,085
vacío#2,753

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vacía" and "vacío" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([baˈsia] versus [baˈsio]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "vacía" or "vacío"?
"vacío" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,753 in our Spanish list, against #7,085 for "vacía". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering vacía vs vacío

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “vacía” 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