vasvsvascoTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#323
“vas” frequency rank
#4,958
“vasco” frequency rank
5281
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vas vasco
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del presente de indicativo de ir o de irse. Originario, relativo a, o propio del País Vasco, en cualquiera de las definiciones que se den a este.

Where the eye mixes vas and vasco

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

3 ch
vas
5 ch
vasco

Why the eye confuses vas with vasco

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vas is [ˈbas] while vasco is [ˈbasko]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “vas” sits inside “vasco”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5281, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vas is recorded at frequency rank #323, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbas]. vasco is at rank #4,958, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈbasko].

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 5281, this pair ranks #314,035 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vas vs vasco

Shared letters: asv. Private to "vas": -. Private to "vasco": co.

"vas" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "vasco" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vascoavsco · basco · vacso · vascco · vasoc · vassco · vsaco · vvasco

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vas" for "vasco" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vas" is a verb and "vasco" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "vas" vs "vasco" - which ranks higher?
"vas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #323 in our Spanish list, against #4,958 for "vasco". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "vas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vasco" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #314,035 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vas" and "vasco" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vas 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 #314,035 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