IndianvsindicarWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Indian is a adjective, indicar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#18,618
“Indian” frequency rank
#4,240
“indicar” frequency rank
22858
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Indian indicar
Definition relativo aos índios americanos apontar, mostrar, revelar:

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Indian and indicar apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Indian
7 ch
indicar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Indian is /ˈɪndiən/ while indicar is /ĩ.di.ˈkaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22858, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Indian is recorded at frequency rank #18,618, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈɪndiən/. indicar is at rank #4,240, tagged as averb, pronounced /ĩ.di.ˈkaɾ/.

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 22858, this pair ranks #47,077 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Indian vs indicar

Shared letters: adin. Private to "Indian": -. Private to "indicar": cr.

"Indian" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC  ·  "indicar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Indianidnian · indain · inddian · indiann · indina · inidan · inndian · nidian
  • indicaridnicar · indciar · inddicar · indiacr · indicarr · indiccar · indicra · inidcar

Frequency comparison

Indian#18,618
indicar#4,240

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Indian" and "indicar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Indian" is an adjective and "indicar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Indian" or "indicar"?
"indicar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,240 in our Portuguese list, against #18,618 for "Indian". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Indian vs indicar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list