refletirvsrepetirWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“refletir” and “repetir” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,140
“refletir” frequency rank
#3,862
“repetir” frequency rank
9002
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature refletir repetir
Definition reproduzir uma imagem, espelhar tornar a dizer ou a fazer uma coisa já dita ou feita; bisar

Where the eye mixes refletir and repetir

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. refletir runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against repetir's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
refletir
7 ch
repetir

Look-alike desk: refletir vs repetir

A purely visual mix-up. refletir (/Rɨ.flɛ.ˈtiɾ/) and repetir (/Rɨ.pɨ.ˈtiɾ/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9002, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

refletir is recorded at frequency rank #5,140, classified as averb, pronounced /Rɨ.flɛ.ˈtiɾ/. repetir is at rank #3,862, tagged as averb, pronounced /Rɨ.pɨ.ˈtiɾ/.

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 9002, this pair ranks #64,573 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of refletir vs repetir

Shared letters: eirt. Private to "refletir": fl. Private to "repetir": p.

"refletir" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "repetir" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • refletir ← erfletir · refeltir · reffletir · refleitr · refletirr · refletri · reflettir · reflletir
  • repetir ← erpetir · reeptir · repeitr · repetirr · repetri · repettir · reppetir · repteir

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "refletir" and "repetir" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/Rɨ.flɛ.ˈtiɾ/ versus /Rɨ.pɨ.ˈtiɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "refletir" or "repetir" show up more?
"repetir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,862 in our Portuguese list, against #5,140 for "refletir". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "refletir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "repetir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #64,573 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "refletir" and "repetir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "repartir vs repetir". 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 #64,573 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list