provocadovsprovocarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,215
“provocado” frequency rank
#4,827
“provocar” frequency rank
12042
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature provocado provocar
Definition Participio de provocar. Producir una reacción de un sentimiento, inducir un estado diferente.

Where the eye mixes provocado and provocar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. provocado runs 9 letters (CCVCVCVCV) against provocar's 8 (CCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
provocado
8 ch
provocar

Look-alike desk: provocado vs provocar

A purely visual mix-up. provocado ([pɾoβ̞oˈkað̞o]) and provocar ([pɾoβ̞oˈkaɾ]) 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 12042, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

provocado is recorded at frequency rank #7,215, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾoβ̞oˈkað̞o]. provocar is at rank #4,827, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾoβ̞oˈkaɾ].

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 12042, this pair ranks #292,948 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of provocado vs provocar

Shared letters: acoprv. Private to "provocado": d. Private to "provocar": -.

"provocado" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCV  ·  "provocar" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • provocado ← porvocado · pprovocado · probocado · proovcado · provcoado · provoacdo · provocaddo · provocaod
  • provocar ← porvocar · pprovocar · probocar · proovcar · provcoar · provoacr · provocarr · provoccar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "provocado" for "provocar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([pɾoβ̞oˈkað̞o] versus [pɾoβ̞oˈkaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "provocado" or "provocar" show up more?
"provocar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,827 in our Spanish list, against #7,215 for "provocado". 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 "provocado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "provocar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #292,948 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "provocado" and "provocar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "provocado vs provocador". 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 #292,948 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