recreavsregresaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#28,541
“recrea” frequency rank
#4,281
“regresa” frequency rank
32822
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recrea regresa
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de recrear. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de regresar o de regresarse.

Where the eye mixes recrea and regresa

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. recrea runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against regresa's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
recrea
7 ch
regresa

Visual trap between recrea and regresa

A purely visual mix-up. recrea ([reˈkɾea]) and regresa ([reˈɣ̞ɾesa]) 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 32822, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recrea is recorded at frequency rank #28,541, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈkɾea]. regresa is at rank #4,281, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈɣ̞ɾesa].

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 32822, this pair ranks #200,011 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of recrea vs regresa

Shared letters: aer. Private to "recrea": c. Private to "regresa": gs.

"recrea" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "regresa" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recrea ← ercrea · rcerea · reccrea · recera · recrae · recrrea · rercea · rrecrea
  • regresa ← ergresa · regersa · reggresa · regreas · regressa · regrresa · regrsea · rergesa

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "recrea" and "regresa" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([reˈkɾea] versus [reˈɣ̞ɾesa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "recrea" or "regresa" show up more?
"regresa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,281 in our Spanish list, against #28,541 for "recrea". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "recrea" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "regresa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #200,011 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "recrea" and "regresa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recrea vs recreos". 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 #200,011 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