vacíovsvaríaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: vacío is a adjective, varía is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#2,753
“vacío” frequency rank
#8,449
“varía” frequency rank
11202
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vacío varía
Definition Que físicamente no contiene nada. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de variar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vacío and varía apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
vacío
5 ch
varía

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

vacío and varía form a confusable pair in the Spanish index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11202, 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]. varía is at rank #8,449, tagged as averb, pronounced [baˈɾia].

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 11202, this pair ranks #295,937 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

vacío#2,753
varía#8,449

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vacío" and "varía" be used interchangeably?
No, "vacío" and "varía" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering vacío vs varía

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 “varía”.
  • 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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list