ilícitovsinicioWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ilícito is a adjective, inicio is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ilícito” is an adjective and “inicio” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,866
“ilícito” frequency rank
#1,294
“inicio” frequency rank
16160
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ilícito inicio
Definition Que está fuera de lo legal, de lo moral o de las reglas establecidas. Principio u origen de alguna cosa; punto de partida; momento o lugar en que algo comienza.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
ilícito
6 ch
inicio

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ilícito is [iˈlisit̪o] while inicio is [iˈnisjo]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16160, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ilícito is recorded at frequency rank #14,866, classified as anadj, pronounced [iˈlisit̪o]. inicio is at rank #1,294, tagged as anoun, pronounced [iˈnisjo].

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 16160, this pair ranks #277,281 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ilícito vs inicio

Shared letters: cio. Private to "ilícito": ltí. Private to "inicio": n.

"ilícito" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV  ·  "inicio" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • inicioiincio · inciio · iniccio · inicoi · iniico · inisio · innicio · niicio

Frequency comparison

ilícito#14,866
inicio#1,294

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ilícito" and "inicio" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ilícito" is an adjective and "inicio" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ilícito" or "inicio"?
"inicio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,294 in our Spanish list, against #14,866 for "ilícito". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ilícito vs inicio

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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