reparovsretardoWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#29,817
“reparo” frequency rank
#35,235
“retardo” frequency rank
65052
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reparo retardo
Definition Restauración o remedio. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de retardar.

Where the eye mixes reparo and retardo

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

6 ch
reparo
7 ch
retardo

Visual trap between reparo and retardo

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reparo is [reˈpaɾo] while retardo is [reˈt̪aɾð̞o]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65052, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reparo is recorded at frequency rank #29,817, classified as anoun, pronounced [reˈpaɾo]. retardo is at rank #35,235, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈt̪aɾð̞o].

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 65052, this pair ranks #43,775 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of reparo vs retardo

Shared letters: aeor. Private to "reparo": p. Private to "retardo": dt.

"reparo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "retardo" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reparoerparo · reapro · repaor · reparro · repparo · reprao · rpearo · rreparo
  • retardoertardo · reatrdo · retadro · retarddo · retarod · retarrdo · retrado · rettardo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "reparo" and "retardo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "reparo" is a noun and "retardo" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "reparo" vs "retardo" - which ranks higher?
"reparo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,817 in our Spanish list, against #35,235 for "retardo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "reparo" and "retardo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "reparo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "retardo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #43,775 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "reparo" and "retardo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "regado vs retardo". 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 #43,775 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