recibanvsrecibirWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,690
“reciban” frequency rank
#1,272
“recibir” frequency rank
13962
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reciban recibir
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de recibir o de recibirse. Tomar alguien algo que se le da o se le envía.

Where the eye mixes reciban and recibir

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
reciban
7 ch
recibir

Visual trap between reciban and recibir

A purely visual mix-up. reciban ([reˈsiβ̞ãn]) and recibir ([resiˈβ̞iɾ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13962, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reciban is recorded at frequency rank #12,690, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈsiβ̞ãn]. recibir is at rank #1,272, tagged as averb, pronounced [resiˈβ̞iɾ].

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 13962, this pair ranks #285,905 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of reciban vs recibir

Shared letters: bceir. Private to "reciban": an. Private to "recibir": -.

"reciban" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "recibir" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recibanerciban · rceiban · recbian · recciban · reciabn · recibann · recibban · recibna
  • recibirercibir · rceibir · recbiir · reccibir · recibbir · recibirr · recibri · reciibr

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "reciban" for "recibir" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([reˈsiβ̞ãn] versus [resiˈβ̞iɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "reciban" or "recibir"?
"recibir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,272 in our Spanish list, against #12,690 for "reciban". 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 "reciban" and "recibir" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "reciban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "recibir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #285,905 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "reciban" and "recibir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reciban vs regirán". 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 #285,905 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