rastreavsrastrearWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#39,952
“rastrea” frequency rank
#12,461
“rastrear” frequency rank
52413
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rastrea rastrear
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de rastrear. Seguir el rastro o búscar alguna cosa por él.

Where the eye mixes rastrea and rastrear

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. rastrea runs 7 letters (CVCCCVV) against rastrear's 8 (CVCCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
rastrea
8 ch
rastrear

Why the eye confuses rastrea with rastrear

A purely visual mix-up. rastrea ([rasˈt̪ɾea]) and rastrear ([rast̪ɾeˈaɾ]) 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) - “rastrea” sits inside “rastrear”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52413, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rastrea is recorded at frequency rank #39,952, classified as averb, pronounced [rasˈt̪ɾea]. rastrear is at rank #12,461, tagged as averb, pronounced [rast̪ɾeˈaɾ].

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 52413, this pair ranks #92,820 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of rastrea vs rastrear

Shared letters: aerst. Private to "rastrea": -. Private to "rastrear": -.

"rastrea" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVV  ·  "rastrear" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rastrea ← arstrea · rasrtea · rasstrea · rastera · rastrae · rastrrea · rasttrea · ratsrea
  • rastrear ← arstrear · rasrtear · rasstrear · rasterar · rastraer · rastrearr · rastrera · rastrrear

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "rastrea" for "rastrear" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([rasˈt̪ɾea] versus [rast̪ɾeˈaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "rastrea" or "rastrear"?
"rastrear" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,461 in our Spanish list, against #39,952 for "rastrea". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "rastrea" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rastrear" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #92,820 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rastrea" and "rastrear" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rasta vs rastrea". 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 #92,820 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