viejovsvitoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#837
“viejo” frequency rank
#21,191
“vito” frequency rank
22028
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature viejo vito
Definition Que tiene mucha edad, en especial si ha pasado ya su madurez o sazón. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de vitar.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
viejo
4 ch
vito

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: viejo is [ˈbjexo] while vito is [ˈbit̪o]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22028, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

viejo is recorded at frequency rank #837, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈbjexo]. vito is at rank #21,191, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbit̪o].

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 22028, this pair ranks #252,263 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of viejo vs vito

Shared letters: iov. Private to "viejo": ej. Private to "vito": t.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • viejobiejo · ivejo · veijo · viejjo · vieoj · vijeo · vviejo
  • vitobito · ivto · viot · vitto · vtio · vvito

Frequency comparison

viejo#837
vito#21,191

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "viejo" and "vito" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "viejo" is an adjective and "vito" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "viejo" or "vito"?
"viejo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #837 in our Spanish list, against #21,191 for "vito". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering viejo vs vito

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 “vito”.
  • 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