enigmavsexigíaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: enigma is a noun, exigía is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“enigma” is a noun and “exigía” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,324
“enigma” frequency rank
#16,098
“exigía” frequency rank
32422
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature enigma exigía
Definition Frase de sentido deliberadamente difícil de interpretar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de exigir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set enigma and exigía apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
enigma
6 ch
exigía

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: enigma is [eˈniɣ̞ma] while exigía is [eksiˈxia]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32422, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

enigma is recorded at frequency rank #16,324, classified as anoun, pronounced [eˈniɣ̞ma]. exigía is at rank #16,098, tagged as averb, pronounced [eksiˈxia].

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 32422, this pair ranks #202,048 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of enigma vs exigía

Shared letters: aegi. Private to "enigma": mn. Private to "exigía": .

"enigma" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "exigía" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • enigmaeingma · engima · enigam · eniggma · enigmma · enimga · ennigma · neigma

Frequency comparison

enigma#16,324
exigía#16,098

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "enigma" and "exigía" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "enigma" is a noun and "exigía" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "enigma" or "exigía"?
"exigía" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,098 in our Spanish list, against #16,324 for "enigma". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering enigma vs exigía

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “enigma”; for a verb, it's “exigía”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “enigma” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list