embarcavsembarcarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#40,274
“embarca” frequency rank
#32,633
“embarcar” frequency rank
72907
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature embarca embarcar
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de embarcar. Ingresar o introducir personas o mercancías en un barco, avión, tren u otro medio de transporte para viajar.

Where the eye mixes embarca and embarcar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
embarca
8 ch
embarcar

Look-alike desk: embarca vs embarcar

A purely visual mix-up. embarca ([ẽmˈbaɾka]) and embarcar ([ẽmbaɾˈkaɾ]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “embarca” sits inside “embarcar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72907, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

embarca is recorded at frequency rank #40,274, classified as averb, pronounced [ẽmˈbaɾka]. embarcar is at rank #32,633, tagged as averb, pronounced [ẽmbaɾˈkaɾ].

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 72907, this pair ranks #24,401 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of embarca vs embarcar

Shared letters: abcemr. Private to "embarca": -. Private to "embarcar": -.

"embarca" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV  ·  "embarcar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • embarcaebmarca · emabrca · embacra · embarac · embarcca · embarrca · embbarca · embraca
  • embarcarebmarcar · emabrcar · embacrar · embaracr · embarcarr · embarccar · embarcra · embarrcar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "embarca" and "embarcar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ẽmˈbaɾka] versus [ẽmbaɾˈkaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "embarca" or "embarcar"?
"embarcar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,633 in our Spanish list, against #40,274 for "embarca". 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 "embarca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "embarcar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #24,401 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "embarca" and "embarcar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "embarcar vs empacar". 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 #24,401 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