relevovsrelieveWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#14,446
“relevo” frequency rank
#7,623
“relieve” frequency rank
22069
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature relevo relieve
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de relevar. Figura formada por una diferencia de altura en la superficie de algo.

Where the eye mixes relevo and relieve

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
relevo
7 ch
relieve

Why the eye confuses relevo with relieve

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: relevo is [reˈleβ̞o] while relieve is [reˈljeβ̞e]. 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 22069, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

relevo is recorded at frequency rank #14,446, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈleβ̞o]. relieve is at rank #7,623, tagged as anoun, pronounced [reˈljeβ̞e].

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 22069, this pair ranks #252,086 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of relevo vs relieve

Shared letters: elrv. Private to "relevo": o. Private to "relieve": i.

"relevo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "relieve" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • relevoerlevo · reelvo · relebo · releov · relevvo · rellevo · relveo · rleevo
  • relieveerlieve · reileve · releive · reliebe · relieev · relievve · relivee · rellieve

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "relevo" for "relieve" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "relevo" is a verb and "relieve" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "relevo" vs "relieve" - which ranks higher?
"relieve" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,623 in our Spanish list, against #14,446 for "relevo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "relevo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "relieve" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #252,086 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "relevo" and "relieve" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "relevo vs reservo". 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 #252,086 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