Which to use
“picar” and “pinchar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,348
- “picar” frequency rank
- #28,507
- “pinchar” frequency rank
- 46855
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | picar | pinchar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Golpear algo con una punta, agujereándolo o no. | Clavar en algo una cosa punzante. |
Where the eye mixes picar and pinchar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. picar runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against pinchar's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between picar and pinchar
A purely visual mix-up. picar ([piˈkaɾ]) and pinchar ([pĩnʲˈt͡ʃaɾ]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46855, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
picar is recorded at frequency rank #18,348, classified as averb, pronounced [piˈkaɾ]. pinchar is at rank #28,507, tagged as averb, pronounced [pĩnʲˈt͡ʃaɾ].
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 46855, this pair ranks #123,362 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of picar vs pinchar
Shared letters: acipr. Private to "picar": -. Private to "pinchar": hn.
"picar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "pinchar" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "picar" and "pinchar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "picar" or "pinchar" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "picar" and "pinchar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "picar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pinchar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #123,362 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "picar" and "pinchar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pinchar vs pinchos". 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 #123,362 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.