Which to use
“recién” is an adverb and “retiene” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,423
- “recién” frequency rank
- #23,578
- “retiene” frequency rank
- 25001
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | recién | retiene |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Recientemente | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de retener. |
Where the eye mixes recién and retiene
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. recién runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against retiene's 7 (CVCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between recién and retiene
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: recién is [reˈsjẽn] while retiene is [reˈt̪jene]. 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 (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25001, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
recién is recorded at frequency rank #1,423, classified as anadv, pronounced [reˈsjẽn]. retiene is at rank #23,578, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈt̪jene].
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 25001, this pair ranks #238,475 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of recién vs retiene
Shared letters: einr. Private to "recién": cé. Private to "retiene": t.
"recién" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "retiene" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- retiene ← ertiene · reitene · reteine · retieen · retienne · retinee · rettiene · rretiene
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "recién" for "retiene" ever safe?
Which is more common, "recién" or "retiene"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "recién" and "retiene" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "recién" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retiene" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #238,475 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "recién" and "retiene" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retiene vs reviente". 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 #238,475 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.