relevovsretuvoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“relevo” and “retuvo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#14,446
“relevo” frequency rank
#29,819
“retuvo” frequency rank
44265
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature relevo retuvo
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de relevar. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de retener.

Where the eye mixes relevo and retuvo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. relevo and retuvo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
relevo
6 ch
retuvo

Visual trap between relevo and retuvo

A purely visual mix-up. relevo ([reˈleβ̞o]) and retuvo ([reˈt̪uβ̞o]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44265, 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]. retuvo is at rank #29,819, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈt̪uβ̞o].

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 44265, this pair ranks #138,027 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of relevo vs retuvo

Shared letters: eorv. Private to "relevo": l. Private to "retuvo": tu.

"relevo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "retuvo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • relevoerlevo · reelvo · relebo · releov · relevvo · rellevo · relveo · rleevo
  • retuvoertuvo · rettuvo · retubo · retuov · retuvvo · retvuo · reutvo · rretuvo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "relevo" and "retuvo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([reˈleβ̞o] versus [reˈt̪uβ̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "relevo" or "retuvo" show up more?
"relevo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,446 in our Spanish list, against #29,819 for "retuvo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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 "retuvo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #138,027 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "relevo" and "retuvo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "resumo vs retuvo". 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 #138,027 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