Which to use
“récif” and “recife” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,238
- “récif” frequency rank
- #49,319
- “recife” frequency rank
- 80557
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | récif | recife |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Rocher ou chaîne de rochers à fleur d’eau, dans la mer. | Récif, écueil. |
Where the eye mixes récif and recife
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. récif runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against recife's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses récif with recife
A purely visual mix-up. récif (\ʁe.sif\) and recife (\ʀɨ.sˈi.fɨ\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80557, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
récif is recorded at frequency rank #31,238, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.sif\. recife is at rank #49,319, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʀɨ.sˈi.fɨ\.
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 80557, this pair ranks #20,650 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of récif vs recife
Shared letters: cfir. Private to "récif": é. Private to "recife": e.
"récif" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "recife" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- recife ← ercife · rceife · reccife · recfie · recief · reciffe · reicfe · rrecife
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "récif" and "recife" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "récif" or "recife" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "récif" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "recife" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #20,650 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "récif" and "recife" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recife vs recréé". 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 #20,650 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.