vacío vs vai, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“vacío” is an adjective and “vai” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,753
“vacío” frequency rank: #39,008
“vai” frequency rank: 41761
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	vacío	vai
Definition	Que físicamente no contiene nada.	Tercera persona del singular (el, ela, vostede) del presente de indicativo de ir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vacío and vai apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

vacío

3 ch

vai

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vacío is [baˈsio] while vai is [ˈba̠j]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 41761, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vacío is recorded at frequency rank #2,753, classified as anadj, pronounced [baˈsio]. vai is at rank #39,008, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈba̠j].

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 41761, this pair ranks #151,928 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vacío vs vai

Shared letters: av. Private to "vacío": coí. Private to "vai": i.

"vacío" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "vai" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequency comparison

vacío#2,753

vai#39,008

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vacío" and "vai" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vacío" is an adjective and "vai" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "vacío" or "vai"?

"vacío" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,753 in our Spanish list, against #39,008 for "vai". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering vacío vs vai

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “vacío”; for a verb, it's “vai”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “vacío” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable