raterovsreiteroTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#42,650
“ratero” frequency rank
#25,433
“reitero” frequency rank
68083
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ratero reitero
Definition Persona que tiene por costumbre el apropiarse de cosas que no le pertenecen. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de reiterar.

Where the eye mixes ratero and reitero

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. ratero runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against reitero's 7 (CVVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
ratero
7 ch
reitero

Why the eye confuses ratero with reitero

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ratero is [raˈt̪eɾo] while reitero is [rejˈt̪eɾo]. 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 68083, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ratero is recorded at frequency rank #42,650, classified as anadj, pronounced [raˈt̪eɾo]. reitero is at rank #25,433, tagged as averb, pronounced [rejˈt̪eɾo].

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 68083, this pair ranks #35,422 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ratero vs reitero

Shared letters: eort. Private to "ratero": a. Private to "reitero": i.

"ratero" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "reitero" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ratero ← artero · raetro · rateor · raterro · ratreo · rattero · rratero · rtaero
  • reitero ← eritero · reietro · reiteor · reiterro · reitreo · reittero · retiero · rietero

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ratero" and "reitero" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ratero" is an adjective and "reitero" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "ratero" or "reitero" show up more?
"reitero" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,433 in our Spanish list, against #42,650 for "ratero". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "ratero" and "reitero" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ratero" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reitero" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #35,422 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ratero" and "reitero" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ramera vs ratero". 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 #35,422 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