pinchavspinchadoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pincha is a adjective, pinchado is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#23,900
“pincha” frequency rank
#46,122
“pinchado” frequency rank
70022
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pincha pinchado
Definition Hincha del club Estudiantes, de La Plata. Participio de pinchar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pincha and pinchado apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
pincha
8 ch
pinchado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pincha is [ˈpĩnʲt͡ʃa] while pinchado is [pĩnʲˈt͡ʃað̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “pincha” sits inside “pinchado”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70022, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pincha is recorded at frequency rank #23,900, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈpĩnʲt͡ʃa]. pinchado is at rank #46,122, tagged as averb, pronounced [pĩnʲˈt͡ʃað̞o].

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 70022, this pair ranks #30,643 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pincha vs pinchado

Shared letters: achinp. Private to "pincha": -. Private to "pinchado": do.

"pincha" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "pinchado" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pinchaipncha · picnha · pincah · pinccha · pinchha · pinhca · pinncha · pnicha
  • pinchadoipnchado · picnhado · pincahdo · pincchado · pinchaddo · pinchaod · pinchdao · pinchhado

Frequency comparison

pincha#23,900
pinchado#46,122

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pincha" and "pinchado" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pincha" is an adjective and "pinchado" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pincha" or "pinchado"?
"pincha" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,900 in our Spanish list, against #46,122 for "pinchado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pincha vs pinchado

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “pincha”; for a verb, it's “pinchado”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pincha” 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