vagovsvaraWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: vago is a adjective, vara is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vago” is an adjective and “vara” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,054
“vago” frequency rank
#10,590
“vara” frequency rank
19644
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vago vara
Definition Que no desea hacer tareas, ni actividad alguna. Rama fina y larga como las que se usan para golpear o para hacer cercos.

Where the eye mixes vago and vara

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

4 ch
vago
4 ch
vara

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vago is [ˈbaɣ̞o] while vara is [ˈbaɾa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19644, 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]. vara is at rank #10,590, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbaɾa].

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 19644, this pair ranks #262,852 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vago vs vara

Shared letters: av. Private to "vago": go. Private to "vara": r.

"vago" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "vara" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vagoavgo · bago · vaggo · vaog · vgao · vvago
  • varavaar · vraa · vvara

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vago" and "vara" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vago" is an adjective and "vara" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vago" or "vara"?
"vago" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,054 in our Spanish list, against #10,590 for "vara". 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 "vara". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vago" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vara" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #262,852 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vago" and "vara" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vara vs VOR". 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