Which to use
“récif” and “récifs” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,238
- “récif” frequency rank
- #27,951
- “récifs” frequency rank
- 59189
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | récif | récifs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Rocher ou chaîne de rochers à fleur d’eau, dans la mer. | Pluriel de récif. |
Same sound, different letters: récif vs récifs
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters. récif runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against récifs's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - récif and récifs
This is the hard kind. récif and récifs are pronounced identically (\ʁe.sif\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “récif” sits inside “récifs”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59189, 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\. récifs is at rank #27,951, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.sif\.
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 59189, this pair ranks #104,564 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of récif vs récifs
Shared letters: cfiré. Private to "récif": -. Private to "récifs": s.
"récif" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "récifs" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "récif" for "récifs" ever safe?
Which is more common, "récif" or "récifs"?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "récif" / "récifs". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "récif" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "récifs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #104,564 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "récif" and "récifs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "récif vs relit". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #104,564 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.