recaudóvsrecayóWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#33,807
“recaudó” frequency rank
#32,838
“recayó” frequency rank
66645
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recaudó recayó
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de recaudar. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de recaer.

Where the eye mixes recaudó and recayó

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. recaudó runs 7 letters (CVCVVCV) against recayó's 6 (CVCVVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
recaudó
6 ch
recayó

Visual trap between recaudó and recayó

A purely visual mix-up. recaudó ([rekawˈð̞o]) and recayó ([rekaˈʝo]) 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 66645, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recaudó is recorded at frequency rank #33,807, classified as averb, pronounced [rekawˈð̞o]. recayó is at rank #32,838, tagged as averb, pronounced [rekaˈʝo].

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 66645, this pair ranks #39,295 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of recaudó vs recayó

Shared letters: aceró. Private to "recaudó": du. Private to "recayó": y.

"recaudó" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV  ·  "recayó" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "recaudó" and "recayó" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([rekawˈð̞o] versus [rekaˈʝo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "recaudó" or "recayó" show up more?
"recayó" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,838 in our Spanish list, against #33,807 for "recaudó". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "recaudó" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "recayó" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #39,295 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "recaudó" and "recayó" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recaudó vs regado". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #39,295 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