viejosvsvivosWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,142
“viejos” frequency rank
#3,662
“vivos” frequency rank
5804
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature viejos vivos
Definition Forma del plural de viejo. Forma del plural de vivo.

Where the eye mixes viejos and vivos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
viejos
5 ch
vivos

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: viejos is [ˈbjexos] while vivos is [ˈbiβ̞os]. 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 5804, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

viejos is recorded at frequency rank #2,142, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈbjexos]. vivos is at rank #3,662, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbiβ̞os].

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 5804, this pair ranks #312,612 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of viejos vs vivos

Shared letters: iosv. Private to "viejos": ej. Private to "vivos": -.

"viejos" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "vivos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • viejosbiejos · ivejos · veijos · viejjos · viejoss · viejso · vieojs · vijeos
  • vivosbibos · ivvos · viovs · vivoss · vivso · vivvos · vvios · vvivos

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "viejos" and "vivos" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "viejos" is an adjective and "vivos" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "viejos" or "vivos"?
"viejos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,142 in our Spanish list, against #3,662 for "vivos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list