Which to use
“indicar” and “inducir” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,315
- “indicar” frequency rank
- #21,024
- “inducir” frequency rank
- 27339
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | indicar | inducir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Designar algún objeto. | Instigar, persuadir, mover a uno. |
Where the eye mixes indicar and inducir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. indicar and inducir follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses indicar with inducir
A purely visual mix-up. indicar ([ĩn̪d̪iˈkaɾ]) and inducir ([ĩn̪d̪uˈsiɾ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27339, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
indicar is recorded at frequency rank #6,315, classified as averb, pronounced [ĩn̪d̪iˈkaɾ]. inducir is at rank #21,024, tagged as averb, pronounced [ĩn̪d̪uˈsiɾ].
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 27339, this pair ranks #227,304 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of indicar vs inducir
Shared letters: cdinr. Private to "indicar": a. Private to "inducir": u.
"indicar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "inducir" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "indicar" and "inducir" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "indicar" or "inducir" show up more?
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 "indicar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "inducir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #227,304 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "indicar" and "inducir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inducir vs intuir". 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 #227,304 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.