recibavsribaWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: reciba is a verb, riba is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“reciba” is a verb and “riba” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,704
“reciba” frequency rank
#49,913
“riba” frequency rank
58617
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reciba riba
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de recibir o de recibirse. Terreno inmediatamente adyacente a un curso o espejo de agua.

Where the eye mixes reciba and riba

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. reciba runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against riba's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
reciba
4 ch
riba

Why the eye confuses reciba with riba

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reciba is [reˈsiβ̞a] while riba is [ˈriβ̞a]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58617, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reciba is recorded at frequency rank #8,704, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈsiβ̞a]. riba is at rank #49,913, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈriβ̞a].

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 58617, this pair ranks #65,800 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of reciba vs riba

Shared letters: abir. Private to "reciba": ce. Private to "riba": -.

"reciba" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "riba" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recibaerciba · rceiba · recbia · recciba · reciab · recibba · reciva · reicba
  • ribairba · rbia · riab · ribba · rriba

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "reciba" for "riba" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "reciba" is a verb and "riba" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "reciba" or "riba"?
"reciba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,704 in our Spanish list, against #49,913 for "riba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "reciba" and "riba" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "reciba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "riba" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #65,800 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "reciba" and "riba" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "riba vs rifas". 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 #65,800 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