rehúsavsrepulsaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#39,961
“rehúsa” frequency rank
#44,977
“repulsa” frequency rank
84938
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rehúsa repulsa
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de rehusar o de rehusarse. Acción y efecto de repulsar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set rehúsa and repulsa apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
rehúsa
7 ch
repulsa

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rehúsa is [reˈusa] while repulsa is [reˈpulsa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84938, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rehúsa is recorded at frequency rank #39,961, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈusa]. repulsa is at rank #44,977, tagged as anoun, pronounced [reˈpulsa].

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 84938, this pair ranks #6,554 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of rehúsa vs repulsa

Shared letters: aers. Private to "rehúsa": . Private to "repulsa": lpu.

"rehúsa" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "repulsa" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • repulsaerpulsa · replusa · reppulsa · repulas · repullsa · repulssa · repusla · reuplsa

Frequency comparison

rehúsa#39,961
repulsa#44,977

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rehúsa" and "repulsa" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "rehúsa" is a verb and "repulsa" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "rehúsa" or "repulsa"?
"rehúsa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,961 in our Spanish list, against #44,977 for "repulsa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering rehúsa vs repulsa

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “rehúsa”; for a noun, it's “repulsa”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “rehúsa” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list