inofensivavsintensivaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#34,632
“inofensiva” frequency rank
#18,575
“intensiva” frequency rank
53207
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature inofensiva intensiva
Definition Forma del femenino de inofensivo. Forma del femenino de intensivo.

Where the eye mixes inofensiva and intensiva

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. inofensiva runs 10 letters (VCVCVCCVCV) against intensiva's 9 (VCCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
inofensiva
9 ch
intensiva

Visual trap between inofensiva and intensiva

A purely visual mix-up. inofensiva ([inofẽnˈsiβ̞a]) and intensiva ([ĩn̪t̪ẽnˈsiβ̞a]) 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 53207, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

inofensiva is recorded at frequency rank #34,632, classified as anadj, pronounced [inofẽnˈsiβ̞a]. intensiva is at rank #18,575, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ĩn̪t̪ẽnˈsiβ̞a].

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 53207, this pair ranks #89,015 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of inofensiva vs intensiva

Shared letters: aeinsv. Private to "inofensiva": fo. Private to "intensiva": t.

"inofensiva" · 10 letters · shape VCVCVCCVCV  ·  "intensiva" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • inofensiva ← infoensiva · innofensiva · inoefnsiva · inofenciva · inofenisva · inofennsiva · inofensiav · inofensiba
  • intensiva ← inetnsiva · inntensiva · intenciva · intenisva · intennsiva · intensiav · intensiba · intensivva

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "inofensiva" and "intensiva" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([inofẽnˈsiβ̞a] versus [ĩn̪t̪ẽnˈsiβ̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "inofensiva" or "intensiva" show up more?
"intensiva" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,575 in our Spanish list, against #34,632 for "inofensiva". 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 "inofensiva" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "intensiva" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #89,015 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "inofensiva" and "intensiva" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inofensiva vs inofensivos". 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 #89,015 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