recorrenvsrecorríanConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#18,664
“recorren” frequency rank
#46,165
“recorrían” frequency rank
64829
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recorren recorrían
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de recorrer. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de recorrer.

Where the eye mixes recorren and recorrían

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. recorren runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against recorrían's 9 (CVCVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
recorren
9 ch
recorrían

Visual trap between recorren and recorrían

A purely visual mix-up. recorren ([reˈkorẽn]) and recorrían ([rekoˈriãn]) 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 64829, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recorren is recorded at frequency rank #18,664, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈkorẽn]. recorrían is at rank #46,165, tagged as averb, pronounced [rekoˈriãn].

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 64829, this pair ranks #44,435 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of recorren vs recorrían

Shared letters: cenor. Private to "recorren": -. Private to "recorrían": .

"recorren" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "recorrían" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recorrenercorren · rceorren · reccorren · recoren · recorern · recorrenn · recorrne · recroren

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "recorren" and "recorrían" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([reˈkorẽn] versus [rekoˈriãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "recorren" or "recorrían" show up more?
"recorren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,664 in our Spanish list, against #46,165 for "recorrían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "recorren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "recorrían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #44,435 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "recorren" and "recorrían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recorrían vs recortan". 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 #44,435 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