vanosvsvasConfusable pair

Quick tell: vanos is a adjective, vas is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vanos” is an adjective and “vas” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,596
“vanos” frequency rank
#323
“vas” frequency rank
28919
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vanos vas
Definition Forma del masculino plural de vano. Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del presente de indicativo de ir o de irse.

Where the eye mixes vanos and vas

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

5 ch
vanos
3 ch
vas

Look-alike desk: vanos vs vas

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vanos is [ˈbanos] while vas is [ˈbas]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28919, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vanos is recorded at frequency rank #28,596, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈbanos]. vas is at rank #323, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbas].

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 28919, this pair ranks #219,577 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vanos vs vas

Shared letters: asv. Private to "vanos": no. Private to "vas": -.

"vanos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "vas" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vanosavnos · banos · vannos · vanoss · vanso · vaons · vnaos · vvanos

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vanos" for "vas" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vanos" is an adjective and "vas" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vanos" or "vas"?
"vas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #323 in our Spanish list, against #28,596 for "vanos". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "vanos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #219,577 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vanos" and "vas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vanos vs visos". 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 #219,577 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