Which to use
“virgen” is an adjective and “virrey” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,323
- “virgen” frequency rank
- #10,953
- “virrey” frequency rank
- 13276
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | virgen | virrey |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Persona que no ha tenido relaciones sexuales, o animal que no se ha apareado | Se dice de una persona que gobierna en el lugar del rey. |
Where the eye mixes virgen and virrey
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. virgen (CVCCVC) and virrey (CVCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between virgen and virrey
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: virgen is [ˈbiɾxẽn] while virrey is [biˈrej]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13276, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
virgen is recorded at frequency rank #2,323, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈbiɾxẽn]. virrey is at rank #10,953, tagged as anoun, pronounced [biˈrej].
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 13276, this pair ranks #288,448 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of virgen vs virrey
Shared letters: eirv. Private to "virgen": gn. Private to "virrey": y.
"virgen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "virrey" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "virgen" for "virrey" ever safe?
Which is more common, "virgen" or "virrey"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "virgen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "virrey" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #288,448 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "virgen" and "virrey" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "virrey vs virreyes". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #288,448 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.