recorrervsrecortarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,352
“recorrer” frequency rank
#16,194
“recortar” frequency rank
22546
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recorrer recortar
Definition Transitar todo un camino o lugar. Cortar una porción de algo para algún propósito.

Where the eye mixes recorrer and recortar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. recorrer and recortar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
recorrer
8 ch
recortar

Visual trap between recorrer and recortar

A purely visual mix-up. recorrer ([rekoˈreɾ]) and recortar ([rekoɾˈt̪aɾ]) 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 22546, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recorrer is recorded at frequency rank #6,352, classified as averb, pronounced [rekoˈreɾ]. recortar is at rank #16,194, tagged as averb, pronounced [rekoɾˈt̪aɾ].

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 22546, this pair ranks #249,815 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of recorrer vs recortar

Shared letters: ceor. Private to "recorrer": -. Private to "recortar": at.

"recorrer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "recortar" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recorrer ← ercorrer · rceorrer · reccorrer · recorer · recorerr · recorrerr · recorrre · recrorer
  • recortar ← ercortar · rceortar · reccortar · recoratr · recorrtar · recortarr · recortra · recorttar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "recorrer" and "recortar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([rekoˈreɾ] versus [rekoɾˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "recorrer" vs "recortar" - which ranks higher?
"recorrer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,352 in our Spanish list, against #16,194 for "recortar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "recorrer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "recortar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #249,815 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "recorrer" and "recortar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recortan vs recortar". 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 #249,815 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