encajanvsencaraWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#22,676
“encajan” frequency rank
#33,573
“encara” frequency rank
56249
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature encajan encara
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de encajar o de encajarse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de encarar.

Where the eye mixes encajan and encara

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. encajan runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against encara's 6 (VCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
encajan
6 ch
encara

Visual trap between encajan and encara

A purely visual mix-up. encajan ([ẽŋˈkaxãn]) and encara ([ẽŋˈkaɾa]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56249, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

encajan is recorded at frequency rank #22,676, classified as averb, pronounced [ẽŋˈkaxãn]. encara is at rank #33,573, tagged as averb, pronounced [ẽŋˈkaɾa].

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 56249, this pair ranks #75,401 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of encajan vs encara

Shared letters: acen. Private to "encajan": j. Private to "encara": r.

"encajan" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "encara" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • encajanecnajan · enacjan · encaajn · encajann · encajjan · encajna · enccajan · encjaan
  • encaraecnara · enacra · encaar · enccara · encraa · enncara · necara

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "encajan" for "encara" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ẽŋˈkaxãn] versus [ẽŋˈkaɾa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "encajan" or "encara" show up more?
"encajan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,676 in our Spanish list, against #33,573 for "encara". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "encajan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "encara" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #75,401 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "encajan" and "encara" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "encara vs encarnar". 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 #75,401 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