inmensavsintensaWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: inmensa is a adjective, intensa is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“inmensa” is an adjective and “intensa” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,549
“inmensa” frequency rank
#5,522
“intensa” frequency rank
12071
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature inmensa intensa
Definition Forma del femenino de inmenso. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de intensar.

Where the eye mixes inmensa and intensa

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. inmensa and intensa follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
inmensa
7 ch
intensa

Visual trap between inmensa and intensa

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: inmensa is [ĩmˈmẽnsa] while intensa is [ĩn̪ˈt̪ẽnsa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - m in “inmensa” becomes t in “intensa”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12071, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

inmensa is recorded at frequency rank #6,549, classified as anadj, pronounced [ĩmˈmẽnsa]. intensa is at rank #5,522, tagged as averb, pronounced [ĩn̪ˈt̪ẽnsa].

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 12071, this pair ranks #292,856 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of inmensa vs intensa

Shared letters: aeins. Private to "inmensa": m. Private to "intensa": t.

"inmensa" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV  ·  "intensa" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • inmensa ← imnensa · inemnsa · inmenas · inmennsa · inmenssa · inmesna · inmmensa · inmnesa
  • intensa ← inetnsa · inntensa · intenas · intennsa · intenssa · intesna · intnesa · inttensa

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "inmensa" and "intensa" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "inmensa" is an adjective and "intensa" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "inmensa" vs "intensa" - which ranks higher?
"intensa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,522 in our Spanish list, against #6,549 for "inmensa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "inmensa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "intensa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #292,856 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "inmensa" and "intensa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inmensa vs inmunda". 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 #292,856 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