significavssignificarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#569
“significa” frequency rank
#8,186
“significar” frequency rank
8755
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature significa significar
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de significar. Ser una cosa, por naturaleza, imitación o convenio, representación, indicio o signo de otra cosa distinta.

Where the eye mixes significa and significar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

9 ch
significa
10 ch
significar

Look-alike desk: significa vs significar

A purely visual mix-up. significa ([siɣ̞niˈfika]) and significar ([siɣ̞nifiˈkaɾ]) 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 extra letter(s) - “significa” sits inside “significar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8755, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

significa is recorded at frequency rank #569, classified as averb, pronounced [siɣ̞niˈfika]. significar is at rank #8,186, tagged as averb, pronounced [siɣ̞nifiˈkaɾ].

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 8755, this pair ranks #304,026 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of significa vs significar

Shared letters: acfgins. Private to "significa": -. Private to "significar": r.

"significa" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV  ·  "significar" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • significacignifica · isgnifica · sginifica · siggnifica · siginfica · signfiica · signifcia · signiffica
  • significarcignificar · isgnificar · sginificar · siggnificar · siginficar · signfiicar · signifciar · signifficar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "significa" and "significar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([siɣ̞niˈfika] versus [siɣ̞nifiˈkaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "significa" vs "significar" - which ranks higher?
"significa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #569 in our Spanish list, against #8,186 for "significar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "significa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "significar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #304,026 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "significa" and "significar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "significar vs significaron". 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 #304,026 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