récitvsreculWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“récit” and “recul” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,797
“récit” frequency rank
#4,368
“recul” frequency rank
7165
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature récit recul
Definition Exposé structuré d’événements réels ou fictifs destiné à être raconté ou lu. Action de reculer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set récit and recul apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
récit
5 ch
recul

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. récit (\ʁe.si\) and recul (\ʁə.kyl\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7165, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

récit is recorded at frequency rank #2,797, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.si\. recul is at rank #4,368, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.kyl\.

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 7165, this pair ranks #423,999 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of récit vs recul

Shared letters: cr. Private to "récit": ité. Private to "recul": elu.

"récit" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "recul" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reculercul · rceul · reccul · reclu · recull · reucl · rrecul

Frequency comparison

récit#2,797
recul#4,368

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "récit" and "recul" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁe.si\ versus \ʁə.kyl\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "récit" or "recul"?
"récit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,797 in our French list, against #4,368 for "recul". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering récit vs recul

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “récit” 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