Which to use
“refiere” and “requiere” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,748
- “refiere” frequency rank
- #2,047
- “requiere” frequency rank
- 3795
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | refiere | requiere |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de referir o de referirse. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de requerir. |
Where the eye mixes refiere and requiere
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses refiere with requiere
A purely visual mix-up. refiere ([reˈfjeɾe]) and requiere ([reˈkjeɾe]) 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 3795, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
refiere is recorded at frequency rank #1,748, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈfjeɾe]. requiere is at rank #2,047, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈkjeɾe].
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 3795, this pair ranks #317,535 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of refiere vs requiere
Shared letters: eir. Private to "refiere": f. Private to "requiere": qu.
"refiere" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV · "requiere" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "refiere" for "requiere" ever safe?
Frequency check: "refiere" vs "requiere" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "refiere" and "requiere" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "refiere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "requiere" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #317,535 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "refiere" and "requiere" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "refiere vs revierte". 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 #317,535 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.