recevsREMConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#38,335
“rece” frequency rank
#35,225
“REM” frequency rank
73560
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rece REM
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de rezar. Fase del sueño durante la que suceden los ensueños más intensos. Durante esta fase, los ojos se mueven rápidamente y la actividad de las neuronas del cerebro se asemeja a la de cuando se está despierto.

Where the eye mixes rece and REM

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
rece
3 ch
REM

Visual trap between rece and REM

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rece is [ˈrese] while REM is [ˈrẽm]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73560, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rece is recorded at frequency rank #38,335, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈrese]. REM is at rank #35,225, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈrẽm].

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 73560, this pair ranks #23,055 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of rece vs REM

Shared letters: er. Private to "rece": c. Private to "REM": m.

"rece" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "REM" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • receerce · recce · reec · rese · rrece

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "rece" for "REM" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "rece" is a verb and "REM" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "rece" or "REM" show up more?
"REM" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,225 in our Spanish list, against #38,335 for "rece". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "rece" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "REM" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #23,055 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rece" and "REM" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rece vs ríete". 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 #23,055 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