intentavsintentanConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,252
“intenta” frequency rank
#5,120
“intentan” frequency rank
7372
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature intenta intentan
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de intentar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de intentar.

Where the eye mixes intenta and intentan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
intenta
8 ch
intentan

Why the eye confuses intenta with intentan

A purely visual mix-up. intenta ([ĩn̪ˈt̪ẽn̪t̪a]) and intentan ([ĩn̪ˈt̪ẽn̪t̪ãn]) 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 extra letter(s) - “intenta” sits inside “intentan”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7372, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

intenta is recorded at frequency rank #2,252, classified as averb, pronounced [ĩn̪ˈt̪ẽn̪t̪a]. intentan is at rank #5,120, tagged as averb, pronounced [ĩn̪ˈt̪ẽn̪t̪ãn].

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 7372, this pair ranks #308,171 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of intenta vs intentan

Shared letters: aeint. Private to "intenta": -. Private to "intentan": -.

"intenta" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV  ·  "intentan" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • intentainetnta · inntenta · intenat · intennta · intentta · intetna · intneta · inttenta
  • intentaninetntan · inntentan · intenatn · intenntan · intentann · intentna · intenttan · intetnan

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "intenta" and "intentan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ĩn̪ˈt̪ẽn̪t̪a] versus [ĩn̪ˈt̪ẽn̪t̪ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "intenta" or "intentan"?
"intenta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,252 in our Spanish list, against #5,120 for "intentan". 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 "intenta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "intentan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #308,171 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "intenta" and "intentan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intentan vs inventen". 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 #308,171 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