encogevsescogerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#43,555
“encoge” frequency rank
#5,614
“escoger” frequency rank
49169
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature encoge escoger
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de encoger o de encogerse. Elegir, seleccionar una persona o cosa de entre varias.

Where the eye mixes encoge and escoger

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

6 ch
encoge
7 ch
escoger

Why the eye confuses encoge with escoger

A purely visual mix-up. encoge ([ẽŋˈkoxe]) and escoger ([eskoˈxeɾ]) 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 49169, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

encoge is recorded at frequency rank #43,555, classified as averb, pronounced [ẽŋˈkoxe]. escoger is at rank #5,614, tagged as averb, pronounced [eskoˈxeɾ].

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 49169, this pair ranks #110,336 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of encoge vs escoger

Shared letters: cego. Private to "encoge": n. Private to "escoger": rs.

"encoge" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "escoger" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • encoge ← ecnoge · enccoge · encgoe · encoeg · encogge · enncoge · enocge · necoge
  • escoger ← ecsoger · esccoger · escgoer · escoegr · escogerr · escogger · escogre · esocger

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "encoge" and "escoger" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ẽŋˈkoxe] versus [eskoˈxeɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "encoge" or "escoger"?
"escoger" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,614 in our Spanish list, against #43,555 for "encoge". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "encoge" and "escoger" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "encoge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "escoger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #110,336 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "encoge" and "escoger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "encoge vs escogen". 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 #110,336 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