provocanvsprovocarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,913
“provocan” frequency rank
#4,827
“provocar” frequency rank
15740
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature provocan provocar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de provocar. Producir una reacción de un sentimiento, inducir un estado diferente.

Where the eye mixes provocan and provocar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. provocan and provocar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
provocan
8 ch
provocar

Visual trap between provocan and provocar

A purely visual mix-up. provocan ([pɾoˈβ̞okãn]) 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 a single letter - n in “provocan” becomes r in “provocar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15740, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

provocan is recorded at frequency rank #10,913, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾoˈβ̞okãn]. 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 15740, this pair ranks #278,969 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of provocan vs provocar

Shared letters: acoprv. Private to "provocan": n. Private to "provocar": -.

"provocan" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC  ·  "provocar" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • provocanporvocan · pprovocan · probocan · proovcan · provcoan · provoacn · provocann · provoccan
  • provocarporvocar · pprovocar · probocar · proovcar · provcoar · provoacr · provocarr · provoccar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "provocan" and "provocar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([pɾoˈβ̞okãn] versus [pɾoβ̞oˈkaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "provocan" or "provocar"?
"provocar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,827 in our Spanish list, against #10,913 for "provocan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "provocan" 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 #278,969 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "provocan" and "provocar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "provocaba vs provocan". 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 #278,969 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