Which to use
“reñida” is a participle and “retira” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,522
- “reñida” frequency rank
- #9,532
- “retira” frequency rank
- 50054
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reñida | retira |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del femenino de reñido, participio de reñir. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de retirar o de retirarse. |
Where the eye mixes reñida and retira
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. reñida and retira follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses reñida with retira
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reñida is [reˈɲið̞a] while retira is [reˈt̪iɾa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (participle vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50054, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reñida is recorded at frequency rank #40,522, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [reˈɲið̞a]. retira is at rank #9,532, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈt̪iɾa].
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 50054, this pair ranks #105,343 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of reñida vs retira
Shared letters: aeir. Private to "reñida": dñ. Private to "retira": t.
"reñida" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "retira" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- retira ← ertira · reitra · retiar · retria · rettira · rretira · rteira
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "reñida" for "retira" ever safe?
Frequency check: "reñida" vs "retira" - which ranks higher?
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 "reñida" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retira" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #105,343 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reñida" and "retira" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reñida vs reñido". 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 #105,343 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.