ruinvsrutinaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ruin is a adjective, rutina is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ruin” is an adjective and “rutina” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,659
“ruin” frequency rank
#4,833
“rutina” frequency rank
35492
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ruin rutina
Definition Que por su bajeza merece el desprecio. Costumbre o hábito adquirido de hacer las cosas por mera práctica y de manera más o menos automática sin razonarlas.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ruin and rutina apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
ruin
6 ch
rutina

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ruin is [ˈrwĩn] while rutina is [ruˈt̪ina]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35492, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ruin is recorded at frequency rank #30,659, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈrwĩn]. rutina is at rank #4,833, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ruˈt̪ina].

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 35492, this pair ranks #185,802 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ruin vs rutina

Shared letters: inru. Private to "ruin": -. Private to "rutina": at.

"ruin" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "rutina" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ruinriun · rruin · ruinn · runi · urin
  • rutinarrutina · rtuina · ruitna · rutian · rutinna · rutnia · ruttina · urtina

Frequency comparison

ruin#30,659
rutina#4,833

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ruin" and "rutina" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ruin" is an adjective and "rutina" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ruin" or "rutina"?
"rutina" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,833 in our Spanish list, against #30,659 for "ruin". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ruin vs rutina

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “ruin”; for a noun, it's “rutina”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ruin” 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