viejovsvieneWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: viejo is a adjective, viene is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#837
“viejo” frequency rank
#426
“viene” frequency rank
1263
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature viejo viene
Definition Que tiene mucha edad, en especial si ha pasado ya su madurez o sazón. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de venir.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
viejo
5 ch
viene

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

viejo and viene form a confusable pair in the Spanish index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1263, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

viejo is recorded at frequency rank #837, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈbjexo]. viene is at rank #426, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbjene].

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 1263, this pair ranks #322,337 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

viejo#837
viene#426

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "viejo" and "viene" be used interchangeably?
No, "viejo" and "viene" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering viejo vs viene

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “viejo”; for a verb, it's “viene”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “viejo” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list