incenso vs intenso, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“incenso” is a verb and “intenso” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,368
“incenso” frequency rank: #4,735
“intenso” frequency rank: 28103
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	incenso	intenso
Definition	primeira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo incensar	que existe ou ocorre em alto grau

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set incenso and intenso apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

incenso

7 ch

intenso

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: incenso is /ĩ.ˈsẽ.su/ while intenso is /ĩ.ˈtẽ.su/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - c in “incenso” becomes t in “intenso”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28103, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

incenso is recorded at frequency rank #23,368, classified as averb, pronounced /ĩ.ˈsẽ.su/. intenso is at rank #4,735, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ĩ.ˈtẽ.su/.

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 28103, this pair ranks #40,760 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of incenso vs intenso

Shared letters: einos. Private to "incenso": c. Private to "intenso": t.

"incenso" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "intenso" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

incenso ← icnenso · inccenso · incennso · incenos · incensso · incesno · incneso · inecnso
intenso ← inetnso · inntenso · intennso · intenos · intensso · intesno · intneso · inttenso

Frequency comparison

incenso#23,368

intenso#4,735

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "incenso" and "intenso" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "incenso" is a verb and "intenso" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "incenso" or "intenso"?

"intenso" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,735 in our Portuguese list, against #23,368 for "incenso". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering incenso vs intenso

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “incenso”; for an adjective, it's “intenso”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “incenso” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable