indicarvsinvitarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,315
“indicar” frequency rank
#7,866
“invitar” frequency rank
14181
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature indicar invitar
Definition Designar algún objeto. Pedirle a alguien que vaya a cierto lugar.

Where the eye mixes indicar and invitar

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

7 ch
indicar
7 ch
invitar

Look-alike desk: indicar vs invitar

A purely visual mix-up. indicar ([ĩn̪d̪iˈkaɾ]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14181, 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]. 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 14181, this pair ranks #285,123 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of indicar vs invitar

Shared letters: ainr. Private to "indicar": cd. Private to "invitar": tv.

"indicar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "invitar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • indicaridnicar · indciar · inddicar · indiacr · indicarr · indiccar · indicra · inidcar
  • invitarinbitar · inivtar · innvitar · inviatr · invitarr · invitra · invittar · invtiar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "indicar" and "invitar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ĩn̪d̪iˈkaɾ] versus [ĩmbiˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "indicar" vs "invitar" - which ranks higher?
"indicar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,315 in our Spanish list, against #7,866 for "invitar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "indicar" 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 #285,123 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "indicar" and "invitar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "indicar vs Indira". 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 #285,123 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