éticavsexijaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#3,891
“ética” frequency rank
#22,353
“exija” frequency rank
26244
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ética exija
Definition Conjunto de principios que determinan la conducta, especialmente la que se considera apropiada o moral. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de exigir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ética and exija apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
ética
5 ch
exija

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ética is [ˈet̪ika] while exija is [ekˈsixa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 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 26244, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ética is recorded at frequency rank #3,891, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈet̪ika]. exija is at rank #22,353, tagged as averb, pronounced [ekˈsixa].

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 26244, this pair ranks #232,612 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ética vs exija

Shared letters: ai. Private to "ética": cté. Private to "exija": ejx.

"ética" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "exija" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • exijaeixja · exiaj · exijja · exjia · exxija · xeija

Frequency comparison

ética#3,891
exija#22,353

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ética" and "exija" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ética" is a noun and "exija" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ética" or "exija"?
"ética" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,891 in our Spanish list, against #22,353 for "exija". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ética vs exija

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “ética”; for a verb, it's “exija”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ética” 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