recenvsrezanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,336
“recen” frequency rank
#34,759
“rezan” frequency rank
73095
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recen rezan
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de rezar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de rezar.

Where the eye mixes recen and rezan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. recen and rezan follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
recen
5 ch
rezan

Look-alike desk: recen vs rezan

A purely visual mix-up. recen ([ˈresẽn]) and rezan ([ˈresãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73095, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recen is recorded at frequency rank #38,336, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈresẽn]. rezan is at rank #34,759, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈresãn].

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 73095, this pair ranks #24,014 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of recen vs rezan

Shared letters: enr. Private to "recen": c. Private to "rezan": az.

"recen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "rezan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recen ← ercen · reccen · recenn · recne · reecn · resen · rrecen
  • rezan ← erzan · reazn · rezann · rezna · rezzan · rrezan · rzean

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "recen" and "rezan" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈresẽn] versus [ˈresãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "recen" vs "rezan" - which ranks higher?
"rezan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,759 in our Spanish list, against #38,336 for "recen". 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 "recen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rezan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #24,014 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "recen" and "rezan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rezan vs ruegan". 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 #24,014 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