varíavsvariosWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: varía is a verb, varios is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#8,449
“varía” frequency rank
#330
“varios” frequency rank
8779
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature varía varios
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de variar. Algunos, unos cuantos.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set varía and varios apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
varía
6 ch
varios

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: varía is [baˈɾia] while varios is [ˈbaɾjos]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8779, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

varía is recorded at frequency rank #8,449, classified as averb, pronounced [baˈɾia]. varios is at rank #330, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈbaɾjos].

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 8779, this pair ranks #303,938 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of varía vs varios

Shared letters: arv. Private to "varía": í. Private to "varios": ios.

"varía" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "varios" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • variosavrios · barios · vairos · varioss · variso · varois · varrios · vraios

Frequency comparison

varía#8,449
varios#330

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "varía" and "varios" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "varía" is a verb and "varios" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "varía" or "varios"?
"varios" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #330 in our Spanish list, against #8,449 for "varía". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering varía vs varios

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “varía”; for an adjective, it's “varios”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “varía” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list