reacciónvsreaccionanWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: reacción is a noun, reaccionan is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“reacción” is a noun and “reaccionan” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,267
“reacción” frequency rank
#21,126
“reaccionan” frequency rank
23393
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reacción reaccionan
Definition Hecho o acción que se opone o resiste a otra, obrando en sentido contrario a ella. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de reaccionar.

Where the eye mixes reacción and reaccionan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. reacción runs 8 letters (CVVCCVVC) against reaccionan's 10 (CVVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
reacción
10 ch
reaccionan

Visual trap between reacción and reaccionan

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reacción is [reakˈsjõn] while reaccionan is [reakˈsjonãn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23393, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reacción is recorded at frequency rank #2,267, classified as anoun, pronounced [reakˈsjõn]. reaccionan is at rank #21,126, tagged as averb, pronounced [reakˈsjonãn].

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 23393, this pair ranks #246,005 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of reacción vs reaccionan

Shared letters: aceinr. Private to "reacción": ó. Private to "reaccionan": o.

"reacción" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVVC  ·  "reaccionan" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reaccionan ← eraccionan · raeccionan · reaccinoan · reaccioann · reaccionann · reaccionna · reaccionnan · reaccoinan

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "reacción" and "reaccionan" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "reacción" is a noun and "reaccionan" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "reacción" or "reaccionan"?
"reacción" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,267 in our Spanish list, against #21,126 for "reaccionan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "reacción" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reaccionan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #246,005 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "reacción" and "reaccionan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reaccionan vs reaccionaron". 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 #246,005 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