Which to use
“motive” is a verb and “motivo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,410
- “motive” frequency rank
- #1,145
- “motivo” frequency rank
- 41555
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | motive | motivo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de motivar. | Razón que mueve o motiva una consecuencia. |
Where the eye mixes motive and motivo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. motive and motivo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses motive with motivo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: motive is [moˈt̪iβ̞e] while motivo is [moˈt̪iβ̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “motive” becomes o in “motivo”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41555, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
motive is recorded at frequency rank #40,410, classified as averb, pronounced [moˈt̪iβ̞e]. motivo is at rank #1,145, tagged as anoun, pronounced [moˈt̪iβ̞o].
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 41555, this pair ranks #153,036 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of motive vs motivo
Shared letters: imotv. Private to "motive": e. Private to "motivo": -.
"motive" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "motivo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "motive" for "motivo" ever safe?
Frequency check: "motive" vs "motivo" - which ranks higher?
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 "motive" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "motivo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #153,036 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "motive" and "motivo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "motines vs motive". 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 #153,036 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.