provocabavsprovocaríaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#31,070
“provocaba” frequency rank
#29,803
“provocaría” frequency rank
60873
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature provocaba provocaría
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de provocar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del condicional de provocar.

Where the eye mixes provocaba and provocaría

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. provocaba runs 9 letters (CCVCVCVCV) against provocaría's 10 (CCVCVCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
provocaba
10 ch
provocaría

Visual trap between provocaba and provocaría

A purely visual mix-up. provocaba ([pɾoβ̞oˈkaβ̞a]) and provocaría ([pɾoβ̞okaˈɾia]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60873, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

provocaba is recorded at frequency rank #31,070, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾoβ̞oˈkaβ̞a]. provocaría is at rank #29,803, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾoβ̞okaˈɾia].

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 60873, this pair ranks #57,381 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of provocaba vs provocaría

Shared letters: acoprv. Private to "provocaba": b. Private to "provocaría": í.

"provocaba" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCV  ·  "provocaría" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • provocaba ← porvocaba · pprovocaba · probocaba · proovcaba · provcoaba · provoacba · provocaab · provocabba

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "provocaba" and "provocaría" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([pɾoβ̞oˈkaβ̞a] versus [pɾoβ̞okaˈɾia]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "provocaba" vs "provocaría" - which ranks higher?
"provocaría" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,803 in our Spanish list, against #31,070 for "provocaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "provocaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "provocaría" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #57,381 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "provocaba" and "provocaría" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "provocaría vs provocativa". 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 #57,381 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list