repentevsreventóWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,903
“repente” frequency rank
#38,363
“reventó” frequency rank
41266
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature repente reventó
Definition Movimiento o suceso imprevisto o sorprendente. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de reventar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set repente and reventó apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
repente
7 ch
reventó

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: repente is [reˈpẽn̪t̪e] while reventó is [reβ̞ẽn̪ˈt̪o]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41266, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

repente is recorded at frequency rank #2,903, classified as anoun, pronounced [reˈpẽn̪t̪e]. reventó is at rank #38,363, tagged as averb, pronounced [reβ̞ẽn̪ˈt̪o].

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 41266, this pair ranks #154,599 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of repente vs reventó

Shared letters: enrt. Private to "repente": p. Private to "reventó": .

"repente" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "reventó" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • repenteerpente · reepnte · repenet · repennte · repentte · repetne · repnete · reppente

Frequency comparison

repente#2,903
reventó#38,363

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "repente" and "reventó" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "repente" is a noun and "reventó" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "repente" or "reventó"?
"repente" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,903 in our Spanish list, against #38,363 for "reventó". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering repente vs reventó

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “repente”; for a verb, it's “reventó”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “repente” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list