rellenavsrellenoWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: rellena is a verb, relleno is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#22,487
“rellena” frequency rank
#8,711
“relleno” frequency rank
31198
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rellena relleno
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de rellenar. Que está lleno con alguna cosa.

Where the eye mixes rellena and relleno

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
rellena
7 ch
relleno

Why the eye confuses rellena with relleno

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rellena is [reˈʝena] while relleno is [reˈʝeno]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “rellena” becomes o in “relleno”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31198, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rellena is recorded at frequency rank #22,487, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈʝena]. relleno is at rank #8,711, tagged as anadj, pronounced [reˈʝeno].

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 31198, this pair ranks #208,279 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of rellena vs relleno

Shared letters: elnr. Private to "rellena": a. Private to "relleno": o.

"rellena" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "relleno" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rellenaerllena · relelna · relena · rellean · rellenna · rellnea · rlelena · rrellena
  • rellenoerlleno · relelno · releno · rellenno · relleon · rellneo · rleleno · rrelleno

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rellena" and "relleno" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "rellena" is a verb and "relleno" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "rellena" or "relleno" show up more?
"relleno" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,711 in our Spanish list, against #22,487 for "rellena". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "rellena" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "relleno" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #208,279 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rellena" and "relleno" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rellena vs Requena". 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 #208,279 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