Which to use
“vaciar” and “valían” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,894
- “vaciar” frequency rank
- #40,063
- “valían” frequency rank
- 62957
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vaciar | valían |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Retirar el interior o contenido de algo. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de valer o de valerse. |
Where the eye mixes vaciar and valían
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. vaciar and valían follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between vaciar and valían
A purely visual mix-up. vaciar ([baˈsjaɾ]) and valían ([baˈliãn]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62957, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vaciar is recorded at frequency rank #22,894, classified as averb, pronounced [baˈsjaɾ]. valían is at rank #40,063, tagged as averb, pronounced [baˈliãn].
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 62957, this pair ranks #50,287 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of vaciar vs valían
Shared letters: av. Private to "vaciar": cir. Private to "valían": lní.
"vaciar" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "valían" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- vaciar ← avciar · baciar · vacair · vacciar · vaciarr · vacira · vaicar · vasiar
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "vaciar" and "valían" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "vaciar" or "valían" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "vaciar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "valían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #50,287 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vaciar" and "valían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "valían vs vallan". 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 #50,287 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.