critical vs criticar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“critical” is an adjective and “criticar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,672
“critical” frequency rank: #4,492
“criticar” frequency rank: 49164
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	critical	criticar
Definition	Crítico.	Juzgar o valorar una cosa atendiendo a un conjunto de reglas establecidas.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set critical and criticar apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

critical

8 ch

criticar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: critical is /ˈkɹɪt.ɪ.kəl/ while criticar is [kɾit̪iˈkaɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - l in “critical” becomes r in “criticar”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49164, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

critical is recorded at frequency rank #44,672, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈkɹɪt.ɪ.kəl/. criticar is at rank #4,492, tagged as averb, pronounced [kɾit̪iˈkaɾ].

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 49164, this pair ranks #110,371 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of critical vs criticar

Shared letters: acirt. Private to "critical": l. Private to "criticar": -.

"critical" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC · "criticar" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

critical ← ccritical · cirtical · criitcal · critcial · critiacl · criticall · criticcal · criticla
criticar ← ccriticar · cirticar · criitcar · critciar · critiacr · criticarr · criticcar · criticra

Frequency comparison

critical#44,672

criticar#4,492

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "critical" and "criticar" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "critical" is an adjective and "criticar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "critical" or "criticar"?

"criticar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,492 in our Spanish list, against #44,672 for "critical". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering critical vs criticar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “critical”; for a verb, it's “criticar”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “critical” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable