recetavsrectaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#4,935
“receta” frequency rank
#7,910
“recta” frequency rank
12845
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature receta recta
Definition Nota que comprende aquello de que debe componerse algo, y el modo de hacerlo. Entidad geométrica de una sola dimensión compuesta de un conjunto infinito de puntos, y que representa el camino más corto entre un punto y otro.

Where the eye mixes receta and recta

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
receta
5 ch
recta

Visual trap between receta and recta

A purely visual mix-up. receta ([reˈset̪a]) and recta ([ˈrekt̪a]) 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 12845, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

receta is recorded at frequency rank #4,935, classified as anoun, pronounced [reˈset̪a]. recta is at rank #7,910, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈrekt̪a].

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 12845, this pair ranks #290,034 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of receta vs recta

Shared letters: acert. Private to "receta": -. Private to "recta": -.

"receta" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "recta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recetaerceta · rceeta · recceta · receat · recetta · rectea · reecta · reseta
  • rectaercta · rceta · recat · reccta · rectta · retca · rrecta

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "receta" for "recta" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([reˈset̪a] versus [ˈrekt̪a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "receta" or "recta" show up more?
"receta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,935 in our Spanish list, against #7,910 for "recta". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "receta" and "recta" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "receta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "recta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #290,034 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "receta" and "recta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rasta vs recta". 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 #290,034 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