yacíavsyucaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: yacía is a verb, yuca is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“yacía” is a verb and “yuca” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#36,880
“yacía” frequency rank
#17,320
“yuca” frequency rank
54200
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature yacía yuca
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de yacer. (Manihot esculenta) Arbusto de la familia de las euforbiáceas, que alcanza los dos m de altura. perenne, autóctona y extensamente cultivada en Sudamérica y el Pacífico por su raíz almidonosa de alto valor alimentario. La yuca es endémica de la región subtropical y tropical de Argentina y Paraguay, y de la región tropical de Bolivia, Brasil, Colombia, Ecuador, Panamá, Perú y Venezuela, aunque se estima que las variedades hoy conocidas son efecto de la selección artificial. Hay una variedad inofensiva que se puede comer con confianza y otra que es tóxica (en Venezuela se le llama "yuca brava" o "yuca amarga").

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
yacía
4 ch
yuca

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: yacía is [ʝaˈsia] while yuca is [ˈʝuka]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54200, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

yacía is recorded at frequency rank #36,880, classified as averb, pronounced [ʝaˈsia]. yuca is at rank #17,320, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʝuka].

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 54200, this pair ranks #84,368 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of yacía vs yuca

Shared letters: acy. Private to "yacía": í. Private to "yuca": u.

"yacía" · 5 letters · shape VVCVV  ·  "yuca" · 4 letters · shape VVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • yucauyca · ycua · yuac · yucca · yyuca

Frequency comparison

yacía#36,880
yuca#17,320

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "yacía" and "yuca" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "yacía" is a verb and "yuca" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "yacía" or "yuca"?
"yuca" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,320 in our Spanish list, against #36,880 for "yacía". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering yacía vs yuca

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “yacía”; for a noun, it's “yuca”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “yacía” 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