recaevsrelajeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,440
“recae” frequency rank
#49,899
“relaje” frequency rank
66339
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recae relaje
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de recaer. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de relajar o de relajarse.

Where the eye mixes recae and relaje

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
recae
6 ch
relaje

Look-alike desk: recae vs relaje

A purely visual mix-up. recae ([reˈkae]) and relaje ([reˈlaxe]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66339, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recae is recorded at frequency rank #16,440, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈkae]. relaje is at rank #49,899, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈlaxe].

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 66339, this pair ranks #40,132 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of recae vs relaje

Shared letters: aer. Private to "recae": c. Private to "relaje": jl.

"recae" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "relaje" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recaeercae · rceae · reace · reccae · recea · rrecae
  • relajeerlaje · realje · relaej · relajje · reljae · rellaje · rleaje · rrelaje

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "recae" for "relaje" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([reˈkae] versus [reˈlaxe]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "recae" vs "relaje" - which ranks higher?
"recae" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,440 in our Spanish list, against #49,899 for "relaje". 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 "recae" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "relaje" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #40,132 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "recae" and "relaje" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "relaje vs renace". 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 #40,132 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