recurrenvsrecurrirConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#23,572
“recurren” frequency rank
#6,108
“recurrir” frequency rank
29680
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recurren recurrir
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de recurrir. Acudir al favor de alguno o en demanda de algo.

Where the eye mixes recurren and recurrir

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

8 ch
recurren
8 ch
recurrir

Why the eye confuses recurren with recurrir

A purely visual mix-up. recurren ([reˈkurẽn]) and recurrir ([rekuˈriɾ]) 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 29680, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recurren is recorded at frequency rank #23,572, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈkurẽn]. recurrir is at rank #6,108, tagged as averb, pronounced [rekuˈriɾ].

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 29680, this pair ranks #215,786 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of recurren vs recurrir

Shared letters: ceru. Private to "recurren": n. Private to "recurrir": i.

"recurren" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "recurrir" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recurren ← ercurren · rceurren · reccurren · recruren · recuren · recurern · recurrenn · recurrne
  • recurrir ← ercurrir · rceurrir · reccurrir · recrurir · recurir · recurirr · recurrirr · recurrri

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "recurren" and "recurrir" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([reˈkurẽn] versus [rekuˈriɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "recurren" vs "recurrir" - which ranks higher?
"recurrir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,108 in our Spanish list, against #23,572 for "recurren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "recurren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "recurrir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #215,786 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "recurren" and "recurrir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recubre vs recurren". 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 #215,786 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