reíanvsreikiWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#29,823
“reían” frequency rank
#46,172
“reiki” frequency rank
75995
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reían reiki
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de reír o de reírse. Tipo de medicina alternativa japonesa considerada como pseudoterapia englobada dentro de las terapias de energía.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
reían
5 ch
reiki

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reían is [reˈiãn] while reiki is [ˈrejki]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75995, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reían is recorded at frequency rank #29,823, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈiãn]. reiki is at rank #46,172, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈrejki].

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 75995, this pair ranks #18,517 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of reían vs reiki

Shared letters: er. Private to "reían": aní. Private to "reiki": ik.

"reían" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC  ·  "reiki" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reikieriki · reiik · reikki · rekii · rieki · rreiki

Frequency comparison

reían#29,823
reiki#46,172

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "reían" and "reiki" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "reían" is a verb and "reiki" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "reían" or "reiki"?
"reían" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,823 in our Spanish list, against #46,172 for "reiki". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering reían vs reiki

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “reían”; for a noun, it's “reiki”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “reían” 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