Which to use
“vacía” is an adjective and “vais” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,085
- “vacía” frequency rank
- #7,934
- “vais” frequency rank
- 15019
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vacía | vais |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del femenino singular de vacío. | Segunda persona del plural (vosotros, vosotras) del presente de indicativo de ir o de irse. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vacía and vais apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vacía is [baˈsia] while vais is [ˈbajs]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15019, 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]. vais is at rank #7,934, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbajs].
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 15019, this pair ranks #281,807 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vacía vs vais
Shared letters: av. Private to "vacía": cí. Private to "vais": is.
"vacía" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "vais" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- vais ← bais · vaiss · vasi · vvais
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "vacía" and "vais" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "vacía" or "vais"?
Remembering vacía vs vais
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “vacía”; for a verb, it's “vais”.
- 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