recortavsretornaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#34,302
“recorta” frequency rank
#34,317
“retorna” frequency rank
68619
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recorta retorna
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de recortar o de recortarse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de retornar.

Where the eye mixes recorta and retorna

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

7 ch
recorta
7 ch
retorna

Why the eye confuses recorta with retorna

A purely visual mix-up. recorta ([reˈkoɾt̪a]) and retorna ([reˈt̪oɾna]) 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 68619, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recorta is recorded at frequency rank #34,302, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈkoɾt̪a]. retorna is at rank #34,317, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈt̪oɾna].

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 68619, this pair ranks #34,020 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of recorta vs retorna

Shared letters: aeort. Private to "recorta": c. Private to "retorna": n.

"recorta" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "retorna" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recortaercorta · rceorta · reccorta · recorat · recorrta · recortta · recrota · reocrta
  • retornaertorna · reotrna · retonra · retoran · retornna · retorrna · retrona · rettorna

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "recorta" for "retorna" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([reˈkoɾt̪a] versus [reˈt̪oɾna]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "recorta" vs "retorna" - which ranks higher?
"recorta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,302 in our Spanish list, against #34,317 for "retorna". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "recorta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "retorna" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #34,020 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "recorta" and "retorna" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recorta 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 #34,020 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