veíavsvilWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,691
“veía” frequency rank
#14,253
“vil” frequency rank
16944
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature veía vil
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de ver o de verse. De poco valor.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set veía and vil apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
veía
3 ch
vil

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: veía is [beˈia] while vil is [ˈbil]. 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 16944, 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]. vil is at rank #14,253, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈbil].

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 16944, this pair ranks #274,148 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of veía vs vil

Shared letters: v. Private to "veía": aeí. Private to "vil": il.

"veía" · 4 letters · shape CVVV  ·  "vil" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

veía#2,691
vil#14,253

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "veía" and "vil" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "veía" is a verb and "vil" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "veía" or "vil"?
"veía" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,691 in our Spanish list, against #14,253 for "vil". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering veía vs vil

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “veía”; for an adjective, it's “vil”.
  • 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