vezvsvilWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#67
“vez” frequency rank
#14,253
“vil” frequency rank
14320
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vez vil
Definition Alternación de las cosas por turno u orden sucesivo. De poco valor.

Where the eye mixes vez and vil

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
vez
3 ch
vil

Why the eye confuses vez with vil

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vez is [ˈbes] while vil is [ˈbil]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14320, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vez is recorded at frequency rank #67, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbes]. 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 14320, this pair ranks #284,562 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vez vs vil

Shared letters: v. Private to "vez": ez. Private to "vil": il.

"vez" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "vil" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vez" for "vil" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vez" is a noun and "vil" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vez" or "vil"?
"vez" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #67 in our Spanish list, against #14,253 for "vil". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #284,562 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vez" and "vil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vil vs VOR". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #284,562 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