modificavsmodificarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,202
“modifica” frequency rank
#5,334
“modificar” frequency rank
17536
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature modifica modificar
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de modificar. cambiar algo.

Where the eye mixes modifica and modificar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

8 ch
modifica
9 ch
modificar

Visual trap between modifica and modificar

A purely visual mix-up. modifica ([moð̞iˈfika]) and modificar ([moð̞ifiˈkaɾ]) 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) - “modifica” sits inside “modificar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17536, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

modifica is recorded at frequency rank #12,202, classified as averb, pronounced [moð̞iˈfika]. modificar is at rank #5,334, tagged as averb, pronounced [moð̞ifiˈkaɾ].

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 17536, this pair ranks #271,713 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of modifica vs modificar

Shared letters: acdfimo. Private to "modifica": -. Private to "modificar": r.

"modifica" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "modificar" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • modificamdoifica · mmodifica · moddifica · modfiica · modifcia · modiffica · modifiac · modificca
  • modificarmdoificar · mmodificar · moddificar · modfiicar · modifciar · modifficar · modifiacr · modificarr

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "modifica" and "modificar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([moð̞iˈfika] versus [moð̞ifiˈkaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "modifica" or "modificar" show up more?
"modificar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,334 in our Spanish list, against #12,202 for "modifica". 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 "modifica" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "modificar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #271,713 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "modifica" and "modificar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "modificar vs modificarse". 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 #271,713 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