imitarvsinvitarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,795
“imitar” frequency rank
#7,866
“invitar” frequency rank
19661
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature imitar invitar
Definition Ejecutar una cosa a imagen o semejanza de otra. Pedirle a alguien que vaya a cierto lugar.

Where the eye mixes imitar and invitar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
imitar
7 ch
invitar

Look-alike desk: imitar vs invitar

A purely visual mix-up. imitar ([imiˈt̪aɾ]) and invitar ([ĩmbiˈt̪aɾ]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19661, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

imitar is recorded at frequency rank #11,795, classified as averb, pronounced [imiˈt̪aɾ]. invitar is at rank #7,866, tagged as averb, pronounced [ĩmbiˈt̪aɾ].

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 19661, this pair ranks #262,770 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of imitar vs invitar

Shared letters: airt. Private to "imitar": m. Private to "invitar": nv.

"imitar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "invitar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • imitariimtar · imiatr · imitarr · imitra · imittar · immitar · imtiar · miitar
  • invitarinbitar · inivtar · innvitar · inviatr · invitarr · invitra · invittar · invtiar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "imitar" and "invitar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([imiˈt̪aɾ] versus [ĩmbiˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "imitar" vs "invitar" - which ranks higher?
"invitar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,866 in our Spanish list, against #11,795 for "imitar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "imitar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "invitar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #262,770 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "imitar" and "invitar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "imitado vs imitar". 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 #262,770 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