vadovsvaleWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“vado” and “vale” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#40,589
“vado” frequency rank
#638
“vale” frequency rank
41227
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vado vale
Definition Sitio firme, parejo y de poca profundidad, por donde se puede cruzar un río. Documento de pago o sustitución de algo.

Where the eye mixes vado and vale

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

4 ch
vado
4 ch
vale

Look-alike desk: vado vs vale

A purely visual mix-up. vado ([ˈbað̞o]) and vale ([ˈbale]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41227, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vado is recorded at frequency rank #40,589, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbað̞o]. vale is at rank #638, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbale].

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 41227, this pair ranks #154,811 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vado vs vale

Shared letters: av. Private to "vado": do. Private to "vale": el.

"vado" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "vale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vadoavdo · bado · vaddo · vaod · vdao · vvado
  • valeavle · bale · vael · vlae · vvale

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "vado" and "vale" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbað̞o] versus [ˈbale]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "vado" or "vale"?
"vale" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #638 in our Spanish list, against #40,589 for "vado". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vale" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #154,811 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vado" and "vale" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vado vs ved". 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 #154,811 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