perchavspinchaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#37,253
“percha” frequency rank
#23,900
“pincha” frequency rank
61153
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature percha pincha
Definition Útil de forma triangular que tiene un gancho en la parte superior, usado para colgar estirada una prenda de ropa. Hincha del club Estudiantes, de La Plata.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set percha and pincha apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
percha
6 ch
pincha

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: percha is [ˈpeɾt͡ʃa] while pincha is [ˈpĩnʲt͡ʃa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61153, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

percha is recorded at frequency rank #37,253, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpeɾt͡ʃa]. pincha is at rank #23,900, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈpĩnʲt͡ʃa].

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 61153, this pair ranks #56,444 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of percha vs pincha

Shared letters: achp. Private to "percha": er. Private to "pincha": in.

"percha" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "pincha" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • perchaeprcha · pecrha · percah · perccha · perchha · perhca · perrcha · ppercha
  • pinchaipncha · picnha · pincah · pinccha · pinchha · pinhca · pinncha · pnicha

Frequency comparison

percha#37,253
pincha#23,900

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "percha" and "pincha" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "percha" is a noun and "pincha" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "percha" or "pincha"?
"pincha" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,900 in our Spanish list, against #37,253 for "percha". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering percha vs pincha

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “percha”; for an adjective, it's “pincha”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “percha” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list