respectvsrespectoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#42,666
“respect” frequency rank
#460
“respecto” frequency rank
43126
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature respect respecto
Definition Respeto. Relación de una cosa con otra, o con un tema más general; proporción, sentido o razón entre dos cosas.

Where the eye mixes respect and respecto

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. respect runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against respecto's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
respect
8 ch
respecto

Visual trap between respect and respecto

A purely visual mix-up. respect (/ʁɛs.pɛ/) and respecto ([resˈpekt̪o]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “respect” sits inside “respecto”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43126, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

respect is recorded at frequency rank #42,666, classified as anoun, pronounced /ʁɛs.pɛ/. respecto is at rank #460, tagged as anoun, pronounced [resˈpekt̪o].

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 43126, this pair ranks #144,383 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of respect vs respecto

Shared letters: ceprst. Private to "respect": -. Private to "respecto": o.

"respect" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "respecto" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • respecterspect · repsect · resepct · respcet · respecct · respectt · respetc · resppect
  • respectoerspecto · repsecto · resepcto · respceto · respeccto · respecot · respectto · respetco

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "respect" and "respecto" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ʁɛs.pɛ/ versus [resˈpekt̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "respect" or "respecto"?
"respecto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #460 in our Spanish list, against #42,666 for "respect". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "respect" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "respecto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #144,383 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "respect" and "respecto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reset vs respect". 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 #144,383 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