inavsincasWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ina is a contraction, incas is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ina” is a contraction and “incas” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#37,663
“ina” frequency rank
#19,139
“incas” frequency rank
56802
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ina incas
Definition Contracción de la preposición in y el adjetivo posesivo a Forma del plural de inca.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ina and incas apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
ina
5 ch
incas

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ina is [ˈɪnˠə] while incas is [ˈĩŋkas]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (contraction vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56802, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ina is recorded at frequency rank #37,663, classified as acontraction, pronounced [ˈɪnˠə]. incas is at rank #19,139, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈĩŋkas].

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 56802, this pair ranks #73,059 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ina vs incas

Shared letters: ain. Private to "ina": -. Private to "incas": cs.

"ina" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "incas" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • incasicnas · inacs · incass · inccas · incsa · inncas · nicas

Frequency comparison

ina#37,663
incas#19,139

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ina" and "incas" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ina" is a contraction and "incas" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ina" or "incas"?
"incas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,139 in our Spanish list, against #37,663 for "ina". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ina vs incas

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a contraction, it's “ina”; for an adjective, it's “incas”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ina” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list