Which to use
“reciben” and “recibes” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,513
- “reciben” frequency rank
- #15,700
- “recibes” frequency rank
- 19213
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reciben | recibes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de recibir o de recibirse. | Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de recibir o de recibirse. |
Where the eye mixes reciben and recibes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. reciben and recibes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses reciben with recibes
A purely visual mix-up. reciben ([reˈsiβ̞ẽn]) and recibes ([reˈsiβ̞es]) 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 a single letter - n in “reciben” becomes s in “recibes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19213, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reciben is recorded at frequency rank #3,513, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈsiβ̞ẽn]. recibes is at rank #15,700, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈsiβ̞es].
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 19213, this pair ranks #264,702 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of reciben vs recibes
Shared letters: bceir. Private to "reciben": n. Private to "recibes": s.
"reciben" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "recibes" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "reciben" and "recibes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "reciben" or "recibes" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "reciben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "recibes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #264,702 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reciben" and "recibes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recibes vs repites". 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 #264,702 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.