intivsinútilConfusable pair

Quick tell: inti is a noun, inútil is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“inti” is a noun and “inútil” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#26,103
“inti” frequency rank
#4,086
“inútil” frequency rank
30189
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature inti inútil
Definition Moneda de circulación legal del Perú desde el 1 de febrero de 1985 cuando reemplazó al sol de oro hasta 1991 cuando fue reemplazado por el nuevo sol. Aquello que no es útil, no sirve o no cumple su función.

Where the eye mixes inti and inútil

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. inti runs 4 letters (VCCV) against inútil's 6 (VCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
inti
6 ch
inútil

Visual trap between inti and inútil

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: inti is [ˈĩn̪t̪i] while inútil is [iˈnut̪il]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30189, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

inti is recorded at frequency rank #26,103, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈĩn̪t̪i]. inútil is at rank #4,086, tagged as anadj, pronounced [iˈnut̪il].

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 30189, this pair ranks #213,221 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of inti vs inútil

Shared letters: int. Private to "inti": -. Private to "inútil": lú.

"inti" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "inútil" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • inti ← init · innti · intti · itni · niti

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "inti" for "inútil" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "inti" is a noun and "inútil" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "inti" or "inútil"?
"inútil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,086 in our Spanish list, against #26,103 for "inti". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "inti" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "inútil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #213,221 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "inti" and "inútil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inti vs intima". 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 #213,221 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