vagovsvanoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,054
“vago” frequency rank
#7,502
“vano” frequency rank
16556
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vago vano
Definition Que no desea hacer tareas, ni actividad alguna. Que no da fruto ni efecto alguno.

Where the eye mixes vago and vano

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
vago
4 ch
vano

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. vago ([ˈbaɣ̞o]) and vano ([ˈbano]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - g in “vago” becomes n in “vano”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16556, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vago is recorded at frequency rank #9,054, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈbaɣ̞o]. vano is at rank #7,502, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈbano].

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 16556, this pair ranks #275,674 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vago vs vano

Shared letters: aov. Private to "vago": g. Private to "vano": n.

"vago" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "vano" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vagoavgo · bago · vaggo · vaog · vgao · vvago
  • vanoavno · bano · vanno · vaon · vnao · vvano

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vago" and "vano" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbaɣ̞o] versus [ˈbano]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "vago" or "vano"?
"vano" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,502 in our Spanish list, against #9,054 for "vago". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "vago" and "vano". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vago" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vano" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #275,674 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vago" and "vano" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vano vs vento". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list