rectovsrécupWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,355
“recto” frequency rank
#27,952
“récup” frequency rank
52307
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recto récup
Definition Première page d’un feuillet, par opposition au verso, qui est la seconde page, celle qui se trouve au revers du feuillet. Technique de restauration ou de création à partir d’objets anciens.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
recto
5 ch
récup

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. recto (\ʁɛk.to\) and récup (\ʁe.kyp\) 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 52307, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recto is recorded at frequency rank #24,355, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁɛk.to\. récup is at rank #27,952, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.kyp\.

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 52307, this pair ranks #148,612 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of recto vs récup

Shared letters: cr. Private to "recto": eot. Private to "récup": pué.

"recto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "récup" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rectoercto · rceto · reccto · recot · rectto · retco · rrecto

Frequency comparison

recto#24,355
récup#27,952

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "recto" and "récup" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁɛk.to\ versus \ʁe.kyp\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "recto" or "récup"?
"recto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,355 in our French list, against #27,952 for "récup". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering recto vs récup

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 “recto” 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