vacíovsvioConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#2,753
“vacío” frequency rank
#1,334
“vio” frequency rank
4087
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vacío vio
Definition Que físicamente no contiene nada. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de ver o de verse.

Where the eye mixes vacío and vio

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

5 ch
vacío
3 ch
vio

Look-alike desk: vacío vs vio

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vacío is [baˈsio] while vio is [ˈbjo]. 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 4087, 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]. vio is at rank #1,334, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbjo].

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 4087, this pair ranks #316,898 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vacío vs vio

Shared letters: ov. Private to "vacío": ací. Private to "vio": i.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "vacío" and "vio" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vacío" is an adjective and "vio" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vacío" or "vio"?
"vio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,334 in our Spanish list, against #2,753 for "vacío". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "vacío" and "vio" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vacío" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #316,898 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vacío" and "vio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vacila vs vacío". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #316,898 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list