Which to use
“recado” is a noun and “retardo” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,086
- “recado” frequency rank
- #35,235
- “retardo” frequency rank
- 66321
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | recado | retardo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Acción o efecto de recadar. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de retardar. |
Where the eye mixes recado and retardo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. recado runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against retardo's 7 (CVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between recado and retardo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: recado is [reˈkað̞o] while retardo is [reˈt̪aɾð̞o]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66321, 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]. retardo is at rank #35,235, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈt̪aɾð̞o].
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 66321, this pair ranks #40,171 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of recado vs retardo
Shared letters: adeor. Private to "recado": c. Private to "retardo": t.
"recado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "retardo" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "recado" and "retardo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "recado" vs "retardo" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "recado" and "retardo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "recado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retardo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #40,171 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "recado" and "retardo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "regado vs retardo". 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 #40,171 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.