reía vs reo, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“reía” is a verb and “reo” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,073
“reía” frequency rank: #27,380
“reo” frequency rank: 45453
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	reía	reo
Definition	Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de reír o de reírse.	Acusado en juicio, especialmente el criminal.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set reía and reo apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

reía

3 ch

reo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reía is [reˈia] while reo is [ˈreo]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45453, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reía is recorded at frequency rank #18,073, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈia]. reo is at rank #27,380, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈreo].

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 45453, this pair ranks #131,354 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of reía vs reo

Shared letters: er. Private to "reía": aí. Private to "reo": o.

"reía" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "reo" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequency comparison

reía#18,073

reo#27,380

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "reía" and "reo" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "reía" is a verb and "reo" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "reía" or "reo"?

"reía" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,073 in our Spanish list, against #27,380 for "reo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering reía vs reo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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