encaravsencargarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#33,573
“encara” frequency rank
#20,015
“encargar” frequency rank
53588
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature encara encargar
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de encarar. Encomendar, poner al cuidado de alguno.

Where the eye mixes encara and encargar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. encara runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against encargar's 8 (VCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
encara
8 ch
encargar

Look-alike desk: encara vs encargar

A purely visual mix-up. encara ([ẽŋˈkaɾa]) and encargar ([ẽŋkaɾˈɣ̞aɾ]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53588, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

encara is recorded at frequency rank #33,573, classified as averb, pronounced [ẽŋˈkaɾa]. encargar is at rank #20,015, tagged as averb, pronounced [ẽŋkaɾˈɣ̞aɾ].

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 53588, this pair ranks #87,165 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of encara vs encargar

Shared letters: acenr. Private to "encara": -. Private to "encargar": g.

"encara" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "encargar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • encara ← ecnara · enacra · encaar · enccara · encraa · enncara · necara
  • encargar ← ecnargar · enacrgar · encagrar · encaragr · encargarr · encarggar · encargra · encarrgar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "encara" and "encargar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ẽŋˈkaɾa] versus [ẽŋkaɾˈɣ̞aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "encara" or "encargar"?
"encargar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,015 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.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "encara" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "encargar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #87,165 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "encara" and "encargar" 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 #87,165 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