Which to use
“récré” is a noun and “rire” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,457
- “récré” frequency rank
- #1,375
- “rire” frequency rank
- 22832
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | récré | rire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Période de la journée scolaire durant laquelle les enfants peuvent sortir et s’amuser. | Marquer un sentiment de gaieté par un mouvement de la bouche accompagné souvent de bruit et par une expression correspondante des regards et des traits du visage. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set récré and rire apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: récré is \ʁe.kʁe\ while rire is \ʁiʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22832, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
récré is recorded at frequency rank #21,457, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.kʁe\. rire is at rank #1,375, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁiʁ\.
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 22832, this pair ranks #355,919 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of récré vs rire
Shared letters: r. Private to "récré": cé. Private to "rire": ei.
"récré" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "rire" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- rire ← irre · rier · rirre · rrie · rrire
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "récré" and "rire" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "récré" or "rire"?
Remembering récré vs rire
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “récré”; for a verb, it's “rire”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “récré” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable