encargadovsencarnadoWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: encargado is a adjective, encarnado is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#3,116
“encargado” frequency rank
#31,329
“encarnado” frequency rank
34445
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature encargado encarnado
Definition Que ha recibido un encargo. Participio de encarnar.

Where the eye mixes encargado and encarnado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

9 ch
encargado
9 ch
encarnado

Look-alike desk: encargado vs encarnado

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: encargado is [ẽŋkaɾˈɣ̞að̞o] while encarnado is [ẽŋkaɾˈnað̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - g in “encargado” becomes n in “encarnado”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34445, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

encargado is recorded at frequency rank #3,116, classified as anadj, pronounced [ẽŋkaɾˈɣ̞að̞o]. encarnado is at rank #31,329, tagged as averb, pronounced [ẽŋkaɾˈnað̞o].

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 34445, this pair ranks #191,407 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of encargado vs encarnado

Shared letters: acdenor. Private to "encargado": g. Private to "encarnado": -.

"encargado" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV  ·  "encarnado" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • encargadoecnargado · enacrgado · encagrado · encaragdo · encargaddo · encargaod · encargdao · encarggado
  • encarnadoecnarnado · enacrnado · encanrado · encarando · encarnaddo · encarnaod · encarndao · encarnnado

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "encargado" and "encarnado" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "encargado" is an adjective and "encarnado" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "encargado" or "encarnado"?
"encargado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,116 in our Spanish list, against #31,329 for "encarnado". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "encargado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "encarnado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #191,407 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "encargado" and "encarnado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "encarnada vs encarnado". 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 #191,407 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