vaivsvioConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#39,008
“vai” frequency rank
#1,334
“vio” frequency rank
40342
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vai vio
Definition Tercera persona del singular (el, ela, vostede) del presente de indicativo de ir. 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 vai and vio

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

3 ch
vai
3 ch
vio

Why the eye confuses vai with vio

A purely visual mix-up. vai ([ˈba̠j]) and vio ([ˈbjo]) 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 40342, 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]. 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 40342, this pair ranks #159,614 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vai vs vio

Shared letters: iv. Private to "vai": a. Private to "vio": o.

"vai" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "vio" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vai" for "vio" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈba̠j] versus [ˈbjo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "vai" vs "vio" - which ranks higher?
"vio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,334 in our Spanish list, against #39,008 for "vai". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vai" 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 #159,614 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vai" and "vio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vai vs VOR". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #159,614 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