recadovsreñidoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#31,086
“recado” frequency rank
#43,239
“reñido” frequency rank
74325
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recado reñido
Definition Acción o efecto de recadar. Participio de reñir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set recado and reñido apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
recado
6 ch
reñido

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: recado is [reˈkað̞o] while reñido is [reˈɲið̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74325, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recado is recorded at frequency rank #31,086, classified as anoun, pronounced [reˈkað̞o]. reñido is at rank #43,239, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈɲið̞o].

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 74325, this pair ranks #21,523 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of recado vs reñido

Shared letters: deor. Private to "recado": ac. Private to "reñido": .

"recado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "reñido" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recadoercado · reacdo · recaddo · recaod · reccado · recdao · rrecado

Frequency comparison

recado#31,086
reñido#43,239

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "recado" and "reñido" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "recado" is a noun and "reñido" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "recado" or "reñido"?
"recado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,086 in our Spanish list, against #43,239 for "reñido". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering recado vs reñido

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “recado”; for a verb, it's “reñido”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “recado” 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