pintanvspintarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,672
“pintan” frequency rank
#6,339
“pintar” frequency rank
23011
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pintan pintar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de pintar. Representar en una superficie una imagen mediante trazos y colores.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pintan and pintar apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
pintan
6 ch
pintar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pintan ([ˈpĩn̪t̪ãn]) and pintar ([pĩn̪ˈt̪aɾ]) 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 a single letter - n in “pintan” becomes r in “pintar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23011, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pintan is recorded at frequency rank #16,672, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpĩn̪t̪ãn]. pintar is at rank #6,339, tagged as averb, pronounced [pĩn̪ˈt̪aɾ].

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 23011, this pair ranks #247,754 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pintan vs pintar

Shared letters: ainpt. Private to "pintan": -. Private to "pintar": r.

"pintan" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "pintar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pintanipntan · pinatn · pinntan · pintann · pintna · pinttan · pitnan · pnitan
  • pintaripntar · pinatr · pinntar · pintarr · pintra · pinttar · pitnar · pnitar

Frequency comparison

pintan#16,672
pintar#6,339

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pintan" and "pintar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpĩn̪t̪ãn] versus [pĩn̪ˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pintan" or "pintar"?
"pintar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,339 in our Spanish list, against #16,672 for "pintan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pintan vs pintar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pintan” 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