Which to use
“energía” is a noun and “enérgico” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #822
- “energía” frequency rank
- #26,433
- “enérgico” frequency rank
- 27255
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | energía | enérgico |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Es una magnitud física del tipo escalar que se manifiesta en diversas formas, se mide por la capacidad de una fuerza o de un sistema para realizar trabajo mecánico, sus principales unidades son: julios y kilowatts.hora (o kilovatio.hora) y su simbolo es: E. | Objeto que tiene energía. |
Where the eye mixes energía and enérgico
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. energía runs 7 letters (VCVCCVV) against enérgico's 8 (VCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses energía with enérgico
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: energía is [eneɾˈxia] while enérgico is [eˈneɾxiko]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27255, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
energía is recorded at frequency rank #822, classified as anoun, pronounced [eneɾˈxia]. enérgico is at rank #26,433, tagged as anadj, pronounced [eˈneɾxiko].
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 27255, this pair ranks #227,739 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of energía vs enérgico
Shared letters: egnr. Private to "energía": aí. Private to "enérgico": cioé.
"energía" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVV · "enérgico" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "energía" and "enérgico" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "energía" or "enérgico" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "energía" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "enérgico" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #227,739 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "energía" and "enérgico" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "enérgico vs enérgicos". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #227,739 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.