anímatevsanimeWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#27,481
“anímate” frequency rank
#5,172
“anime” frequency rank
32653
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anímate anime
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del imperativo afirmativo de animarse (con el pronombre enclítico). Material pegajoso, generalmente de color chocolate pálido, que se extrae de la savia de diversos árboles, especialmente del género Hymenaea.

Where the eye mixes anímate and anime

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. anímate runs 7 letters (VCVCVCV) against anime's 5 (VCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
anímate
5 ch
anime

Look-alike desk: anímate vs anime

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: anímate is [aˈnimat̪e] while anime is [aˈnime]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 32653, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anímate is recorded at frequency rank #27,481, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈnimat̪e]. anime is at rank #5,172, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aˈnime].

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 32653, this pair ranks #200,884 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of anímate vs anime

Shared letters: aemn. Private to "anímate": tí. Private to "anime": i.

"anímate" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV  ·  "anime" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anime ← ainme · aniem · animme · anmie · annime · naime

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "anímate" for "anime" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "anímate" is a verb and "anime" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "anímate" vs "anime" - which ranks higher?
"anime" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,172 in our Spanish list, against #27,481 for "anímate". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "anímate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anime" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #200,884 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anímate" and "anime" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ánima vs anímate". 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 #200,884 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