récifvsreçueWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: récif is a noun, reçue is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“récif” is a noun and “reçue” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,238
“récif” frequency rank
#7,894
“reçue” frequency rank
39132
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature récif reçue
Definition Rocher ou chaîne de rochers à fleur d’eau, dans la mer. Féminin singulier de reçu.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set récif and reçue apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
récif
5 ch
reçue

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: récif is \ʁe.sif\ while reçue is \ʁə.sy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39132, 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\. reçue is at rank #7,894, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁə.sy\.

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 39132, this pair ranks #250,272 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of récif vs reçue

Shared letters: r. Private to "récif": cfié. Private to "reçue": euç.

"récif" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "reçue" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Frequency comparison

récif#31,238
reçue#7,894

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "récif" and "reçue" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "récif" is a noun and "reçue" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "récif" or "reçue"?
"reçue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,894 in our French list, against #31,238 for "récif". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering récif vs reçue

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “récif”; for an adjective, it's “reçue”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “récif” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list