refrescavsrefrescoWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: refresca is a verb, refresco is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“refresca” is a verb and “refresco” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,969
“refresca” frequency rank
#14,938
“refresco” frequency rank
59907
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature refresca refresco
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de refrescar. Bebida fría o a temperatura ambiente.

Where the eye mixes refresca and refresco

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
refresca
8 ch
refresco

Look-alike desk: refresca vs refresco

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: refresca is [reˈfɾeska] while refresco is [reˈfɾesko]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “refresca” becomes o in “refresco”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59907, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

refresca is recorded at frequency rank #44,969, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈfɾeska]. refresco is at rank #14,938, tagged as anoun, pronounced [reˈfɾesko].

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 59907, this pair ranks #60,861 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of refresca vs refresco

Shared letters: cefrs. Private to "refresca": a. Private to "refresco": o.

"refresca" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "refresco" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • refrescaerfresca · refersca · reffresca · refrecsa · refresac · refrescca · refressca · refrresca
  • refrescoerfresco · refersco · reffresco · refrecso · refrescco · refresoc · refressco · refrresco

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "refresca" and "refresco" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "refresca" is a verb and "refresco" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "refresca" or "refresco" show up more?
"refresco" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,938 in our Spanish list, against #44,969 for "refresca". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "refresca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "refresco" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #60,861 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "refresca" and "refresco" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "refresca vs refrescar". 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 #60,861 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