intensivovsintensoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#18,875
“intensivo” frequency rank
#5,119
“intenso” frequency rank
23994
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature intensivo intenso
Definition Intenso Que tiene o se hace con intensidad.

Where the eye mixes intensivo and intenso

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. intensivo runs 9 letters (VCCVCCVCV) against intenso's 7 (VCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
intensivo
7 ch
intenso

Visual trap between intensivo and intenso

A purely visual mix-up. intensivo ([ĩn̪t̪ẽnˈsiβ̞o]) and intenso ([ĩn̪ˈt̪ẽnso]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23994, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

intensivo is recorded at frequency rank #18,875, classified as anadj, pronounced [ĩn̪t̪ẽnˈsiβ̞o]. intenso is at rank #5,119, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ĩn̪ˈt̪ẽnso].

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 23994, this pair ranks #243,220 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of intensivo vs intenso

Shared letters: einost. Private to "intensivo": v. Private to "intenso": -.

"intensivo" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV  ·  "intenso" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • intensivo ← inetnsivo · inntensivo · intencivo · intenisvo · intennsivo · intensibo · intensiov · intensivvo
  • intenso ← inetnso · inntenso · intennso · intenos · intensso · intesno · intneso · inttenso

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "intensivo" for "intenso" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ĩn̪t̪ẽnˈsiβ̞o] versus [ĩn̪ˈt̪ẽnso]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "intensivo" vs "intenso" - which ranks higher?
"intenso" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,119 in our Spanish list, against #18,875 for "intensivo". 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 "intensivo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "intenso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #243,220 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "intensivo" and "intenso" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intenso vs intereso". 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 #243,220 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