indicarvsiniciarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“indicar” and “iniciar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,240
“indicar” frequency rank
#3,412
“iniciar” frequency rank
7652
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature indicar iniciar
Definition apontar, mostrar, revelar: ato de dar ou de ter início

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
indicar
7 ch
iniciar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

indicar and iniciar are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7652, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

indicar is recorded at frequency rank #4,240, classified as averb, pronounced /ĩ.di.ˈkaɾ/. iniciar is at rank #3,412, tagged as averb.

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 7652, this pair ranks #66,441 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of indicar vs iniciar

Shared letters: acinr. Private to "indicar": d. Private to "iniciar": -.

"indicar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "iniciar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • indicaridnicar · indciar · inddicar · indiacr · indicarr · indiccar · indicra · inidcar
  • iniciariinciar · inciiar · inicair · inicciar · iniciarr · inicira · iniicar · inniciar

Frequency comparison

indicar#4,240
iniciar#3,412

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "indicar" and "iniciar" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "indicar" or "iniciar"?
"iniciar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,412 in our Portuguese list, against #4,240 for "indicar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering indicar vs iniciar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “indicar” 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