viejovsvisoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#837
“viejo” frequency rank
#41,135
“viso” frequency rank
41972
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature viejo viso
Definition Que tiene mucha edad, en especial si ha pasado ya su madurez o sazón. Altura o eminencia, sitio o lugar alto, desde donde se ve y descubre mucho terreno.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
viejo
4 ch
viso

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: viejo is [ˈbjexo] while viso is [ˈbiso]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41972, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

viejo is recorded at frequency rank #837, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈbjexo]. viso is at rank #41,135, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbiso].

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 41972, this pair ranks #150,754 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of viejo vs viso

Shared letters: iov. Private to "viejo": ej. Private to "viso": s.

"viejo" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "viso" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • viejobiejo · ivejo · veijo · viejjo · vieoj · vijeo · vviejo
  • visoivso · visso · vsio · vviso

Frequency comparison

viejo#837
viso#41,135

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "viejo" and "viso" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "viejo" is an adjective and "viso" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "viejo" or "viso"?
"viejo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #837 in our Spanish list, against #41,135 for "viso". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering viejo vs viso

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “viejo”; for a noun, it's “viso”.
  • 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