recuperanvsrecuperarConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#25,424
“recuperan” frequency rank
#2,365
“recuperar” frequency rank
27789
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recuperan recuperar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de recuperar o de recuperarse. Volver a tomar o cobrar alguna cosa que antes se poseyó.

Where the eye mixes recuperan and recuperar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. recuperan and recuperar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
recuperan
9 ch
recuperar

Visual trap between recuperan and recuperar

A purely visual mix-up. recuperan ([rekuˈpeɾãn]) and recuperar ([rekupeˈɾaɾ]) 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 a single letter - n in “recuperan” becomes r in “recuperar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27789, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recuperan is recorded at frequency rank #25,424, classified as averb, pronounced [rekuˈpeɾãn]. recuperar is at rank #2,365, tagged as averb, pronounced [rekupeˈɾaɾ].

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 27789, this pair ranks #225,154 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of recuperan vs recuperar

Shared letters: acepru. Private to "recuperan": n. Private to "recuperar": -.

"recuperan" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC  ·  "recuperar" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recuperanercuperan · rceuperan · reccuperan · recpueran · recuepran · recupearn · recuperann · recuperna
  • recuperarercuperar · rceuperar · reccuperar · recpuerar · recueprar · recupearr · recuperarr · recuperra

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "recuperan" for "recuperar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([rekuˈpeɾãn] versus [rekupeˈɾaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "recuperan" or "recuperar"?
"recuperar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,365 in our Spanish list, against #25,424 for "recuperan". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "recuperan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "recuperar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #225,154 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "recuperan" and "recuperar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recuperan vs recuperes". 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 #225,154 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