intrínsecavsintrínsecoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#33,183
“intrínseca” frequency rank
#34,639
“intrínseco” frequency rank
67822
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature intrínseca intrínseco
Definition Forma del femenino singular de intrínseco. Inherente, propio o esencial de una cosa. Inseparable de la cosa en sí.

Where the eye mixes intrínseca and intrínseco

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. intrínseca and intrínseco follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCVCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
intrínseca
10 ch
intrínseco

Why the eye confuses intrínseca with intrínseco

A purely visual mix-up. intrínseca ([ĩn̪ˈt̪ɾĩnseka]) and intrínseco ([ĩn̪ˈt̪ɾĩnseko]) 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 a single letter - a in “intrínseca” becomes o in “intrínseco”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67822, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

intrínseca is recorded at frequency rank #33,183, classified as anadj, pronounced [ĩn̪ˈt̪ɾĩnseka]. intrínseco is at rank #34,639, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ĩn̪ˈt̪ɾĩnseko].

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 67822, this pair ranks #36,139 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of intrínseca vs intrínseco

Shared letters: ceinrstí. Private to "intrínseca": a. Private to "intrínseco": o.

"intrínseca" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVCCVCV  ·  "intrínseco" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVCCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "intrínseca" for "intrínseco" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ĩn̪ˈt̪ɾĩnseka] versus [ĩn̪ˈt̪ɾĩnseko]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "intrínseca" vs "intrínseco" - which ranks higher?
"intrínseca" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,183 in our Spanish list, against #34,639 for "intrínseco". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "intrínseca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "intrínseco" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #36,139 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics

Confusion rank #36,139 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