recevsreduceWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,335
“rece” frequency rank
#5,250
“reduce” frequency rank
43585
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rece reduce
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de rezar. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de reducir.

Where the eye mixes rece and reduce

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
rece
6 ch
reduce

Visual trap between rece and reduce

A purely visual mix-up. rece ([ˈrese]) and reduce ([reˈð̞use]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43585, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rece is recorded at frequency rank #38,335, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈrese]. reduce is at rank #5,250, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈð̞use].

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 43585, this pair ranks #141,863 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of rece vs reduce

Shared letters: cer. Private to "rece": -. Private to "reduce": du.

"rece" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "reduce" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • receerce · recce · reec · rese · rrece
  • reduceerduce · rdeuce · redcue · redduce · reducce · reduec · reduse · reudce

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rece" and "reduce" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈrese] versus [reˈð̞use]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "rece" vs "reduce" - which ranks higher?
"reduce" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,250 in our Spanish list, against #38,335 for "rece". 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 "rece" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reduce" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #141,863 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rece" and "reduce" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rece vs ríete". 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 #141,863 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