encantarvsencarnarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,236
“encantar” frequency rank
#44,152
“encarnar” frequency rank
62388
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature encantar encarnar
Definition En los cuentos para niños y en algunos mitos, someter a una persona a poderes mágicos malignos. Dicho de una sustancia espiritual: adquirir una res corpórea. Se aplica principalmente a la acción de haberse hecho hombre el Verbo Divino.

Where the eye mixes encantar and encarnar

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

8 ch
encantar
8 ch
encarnar

Visual trap between encantar and encarnar

A purely visual mix-up. encantar ([ẽŋkãn̪ˈt̪aɾ]) and encarnar ([ẽŋkaɾˈnaɾ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62388, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

encantar is recorded at frequency rank #18,236, classified as averb, pronounced [ẽŋkãn̪ˈt̪aɾ]. encarnar is at rank #44,152, tagged as averb, pronounced [ẽŋkaɾˈnaɾ].

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 62388, this pair ranks #52,213 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of encantar vs encarnar

Shared letters: acenr. Private to "encantar": t. Private to "encarnar": -.

"encantar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "encarnar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • encantarecnantar · enacntar · encanatr · encanntar · encantarr · encantra · encanttar · encatnar
  • encarnarecnarnar · enacrnar · encanrar · encaranr · encarnarr · encarnnar · encarnra · encarrnar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "encantar" for "encarnar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ẽŋkãn̪ˈt̪aɾ] versus [ẽŋkaɾˈnaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "encantar" or "encarnar" show up more?
"encantar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,236 in our Spanish list, against #44,152 for "encarnar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "encantar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "encarnar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #52,213 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "encantar" and "encarnar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "encarnar vs escarbar". 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 #52,213 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