vaivsvaisWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#39,008
“vai” frequency rank
#7,934
“vais” frequency rank
46942
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vai vais
Definition Tercera persona del singular (el, ela, vostede) del presente de indicativo de ir. Segunda persona del plural (vosotros, vosotras) del presente de indicativo de ir o de irse.

Where the eye mixes vai and vais

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. vai runs 3 letters (CVV) against vais's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
vai
4 ch
vais

Visual trap between vai and vais

A purely visual mix-up. vai ([ˈba̠j]) and vais ([ˈbajs]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “vai” sits inside “vais”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46942, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vai is recorded at frequency rank #39,008, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈba̠j]. vais is at rank #7,934, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbajs].

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 46942, this pair ranks #122,867 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vai vs vais

Shared letters: aiv. Private to "vai": -. Private to "vais": s.

"vai" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "vais" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vais ← bais · vaiss · vasi · vvais

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vai" and "vais" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈba̠j] versus [ˈbajs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "vai" or "vais"?
"vais" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,934 in our Spanish list, against #39,008 for "vai". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "vai" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vais" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #122,867 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vai" and "vais" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vai 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

Confusion rank #122,867 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