evitarvsevitarseConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#786
“evitar” frequency rank
#25,264
“evitarse” frequency rank
26050
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature evitar evitarse
Definition Precaver que suceda una cosa. Eximirse del vasallaje.

Where the eye mixes evitar and evitarse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
evitar
8 ch
evitarse

Why the eye confuses evitar with evitarse

A purely visual mix-up. evitar ([eβ̞iˈt̪aɾ]) and evitarse ([eβ̞iˈt̪aɾse]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “evitar” sits inside “evitarse”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26050, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

evitar is recorded at frequency rank #786, classified as averb, pronounced [eβ̞iˈt̪aɾ]. evitarse is at rank #25,264, tagged as averb, pronounced [eβ̞iˈt̪aɾse].

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 26050, this pair ranks #233,574 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of evitar vs evitarse

Shared letters: aeirtv. Private to "evitar": -. Private to "evitarse": s.

"evitar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "evitarse" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • evitarebitar · eivtar · eviatr · evitarr · evitra · evittar · evtiar · evvitar
  • evitarseebitarse · eivtarse · eviatrse · evitarce · evitares · evitarrse · evitarsse · evitasre

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "evitar" and "evitarse" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([eβ̞iˈt̪aɾ] versus [eβ̞iˈt̪aɾse]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "evitar" vs "evitarse" - which ranks higher?
"evitar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #786 in our Spanish list, against #25,264 for "evitarse". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "evitar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "evitarse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #233,574 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "evitar" and "evitarse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "evitarse vs evitas". 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 #233,574 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