veíavsvíasWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: veía is a verb, vías is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“veía” is a verb and “vías” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,691
“veía” frequency rank
#2,962
“vías” frequency rank
5653
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature veía vías
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de ver o de verse. Mandatos o leyes bíblicas.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
veía
4 ch
vías

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: veía is [beˈia] while vías is [ˈbias]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5653, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

veía is recorded at frequency rank #2,691, classified as averb, pronounced [beˈia]. vías is at rank #2,962, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbias].

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 5653, this pair ranks #313,052 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of veía vs vías

Shared letters: aví. Private to "veía": e. Private to "vías": s.

"veía" · 4 letters · shape CVVV  ·  "vías" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Frequency comparison

veía#2,691
vías#2,962

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "veía" and "vías" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "veía" is a verb and "vías" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "veía" or "vías"?
"veía" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,691 in our Spanish list, against #2,962 for "vías". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering veía vs vías

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “veía”; for a noun, it's “vías”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “veía” 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