rectovsrotoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#10,058
“recto” frequency rank
#4,112
“roto” frequency rank
14170
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recto roto
Definition Que tiene la forma que sigue el camino más corto entre dos puntos, sin inclinarse, ni torcerse, ni cambiar de dirección. Destrozado parcial o totalmente.

Where the eye mixes recto and roto

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
recto
4 ch
roto

Look-alike desk: recto vs roto

A purely visual mix-up. recto ([ˈrekt̪o]) and roto ([ˈrot̪o]) 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 14170, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recto is recorded at frequency rank #10,058, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈrekt̪o]. roto is at rank #4,112, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈrot̪o].

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 14170, this pair ranks #285,154 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of recto vs roto

Shared letters: ort. Private to "recto": ce. Private to "roto": -.

"recto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "roto" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rectoercto · rceto · reccto · recot · rectto · retco · rrecto
  • rotorotto · rroto · rtoo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "recto" for "roto" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈrekt̪o] versus [ˈrot̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "recto" vs "roto" - which ranks higher?
"roto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,112 in our Spanish list, against #10,058 for "recto". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "recto" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "roto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #285,154 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "recto" and "roto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recto vs rengo". 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 #285,154 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