vacíasvsvalíaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: vacías is a adjective, valía is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vacías” is an adjective and “valía” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,556
“vacías” frequency rank
#10,240
“valía” frequency rank
19796
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vacías valía
Definition Forma del femenino plural de vacío. Variante de valor.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
vacías
5 ch
valía

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vacías is [baˈsias] while valía is [baˈlia]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19796, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vacías is recorded at frequency rank #9,556, classified as anadj, pronounced [baˈsias]. valía is at rank #10,240, tagged as anoun, pronounced [baˈlia].

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 19796, this pair ranks #262,155 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vacías vs valía

Shared letters: aví. Private to "vacías": cs. Private to "valía": l.

"vacías" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "valía" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Frequency comparison

vacías#9,556
valía#10,240

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vacías" and "valía" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vacías" is an adjective and "valía" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vacías" or "valía"?
"vacías" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,556 in our Spanish list, against #10,240 for "valía". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering vacías vs valía

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “vacías”; for a noun, it's “valía”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “vacías” 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