Which to use
“receives” is a verb and “reserves” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,257
- “receives” frequency rank
- #4,977
- “reserves” frequency rank
- 10234
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | receives | reserves |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of receive | plural of reserve |
Where the eye mixes receives and reserves
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. receives (CVCVVCVC) and reserves (CVCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses receives with reserves
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: receives is /ɹɪˈsiːvz/ while reserves is /ɹɪˈzɝvz/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10234, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
receives is recorded at frequency rank #5,257, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈsiːvz/. reserves is at rank #4,977, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈzɝvz/.
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 10234, this pair ranks #493,327 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of receives vs reserves
Shared letters: ersv. Private to "receives": ci. Private to "reserves": -.
"receives" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "reserves" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "receives" and "reserves" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "receives" vs "reserves" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "receives" and "reserves" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "receives" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "reserves" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #493,327 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "receives" and "reserves" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "receives vs Reeves". 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 #493,327 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.