recabarvsrecrearWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#22,835
“recabar” frequency rank
#21,129
“recrear” frequency rank
43964
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recabar recrear
Definition Alcanzar, conseguir con instancias o súplicas lo que se desea. Crear algo de nuevo.

Where the eye mixes recabar and recrear

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. recabar (CVCVCVC) and recrear (CVCCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
recabar
7 ch
recrear

Visual trap between recabar and recrear

A purely visual mix-up. recabar ([rekaˈβ̞aɾ]) and recrear ([rekɾeˈaɾ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43964, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recabar is recorded at frequency rank #22,835, classified as averb, pronounced [rekaˈβ̞aɾ]. recrear is at rank #21,129, tagged as averb, pronounced [rekɾeˈaɾ].

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 43964, this pair ranks #139,673 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of recabar vs recrear

Shared letters: acer. Private to "recabar": b. Private to "recrear": -.

"recabar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "recrear" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recabar ← ercabar · rceabar · reacbar · recaabr · recabarr · recabbar · recabra · recavar
  • recrear ← ercrear · rcerear · reccrear · recerar · recraer · recrearr · recrera · recrrear

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "recabar" and "recrear" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([rekaˈβ̞aɾ] versus [rekɾeˈaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "recabar" or "recrear" show up more?
"recrear" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,129 in our Spanish list, against #22,835 for "recabar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "recabar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "recrear" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #139,673 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "recabar" and "recrear" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recrear vs recreos". 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 #139,673 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