adecuarvsadecuarseWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“adecuar” and “adecuarse” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#32,048
“adecuar” frequency rank
#46,302
“adecuarse” frequency rank
78350
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature adecuar adecuarse
Definition Igualar, proporcionar, acomodar una cosa a otra. Ajustarse, acomodarse una cosa a otra, venirle exactamente.

Where the eye mixes adecuar and adecuarse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. adecuar runs 7 letters (VCVCVVC) against adecuarse's 9 (VCVCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
adecuar
9 ch
adecuarse

Why the eye confuses adecuar with adecuarse

A purely visual mix-up. adecuar ([að̞eˈkwaɾ]) and adecuarse ([að̞eˈkwaɾse]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “adecuar” sits inside “adecuarse”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78350, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

adecuar is recorded at frequency rank #32,048, classified as averb, pronounced [að̞eˈkwaɾ]. adecuarse is at rank #46,302, tagged as averb, pronounced [að̞eˈkwaɾse].

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 78350, this pair ranks #14,578 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of adecuar vs adecuarse

Shared letters: acderu. Private to "adecuar": -. Private to "adecuarse": s.

"adecuar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVVC  ·  "adecuarse" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • adecuar ← adceuar · addecuar · adecaur · adeccuar · adecuarr · adecura · adeucar · aedcuar
  • adecuarse ← adceuarse · addecuarse · adecaurse · adeccuarse · adecuarce · adecuares · adecuarrse · adecuarsse

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "adecuar" for "adecuarse" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([að̞eˈkwaɾ] versus [að̞eˈkwaɾse]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "adecuar" or "adecuarse"?
"adecuar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,048 in our Spanish list, against #46,302 for "adecuarse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "adecuar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "adecuarse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #14,578 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "adecuar" and "adecuarse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "adecuar vs atenuar". 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 #14,578 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list