reçu vs red, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“reçu” is an adjective and “red” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#813
“reçu” frequency rank: #3,498
“red” frequency rank: 4311
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	reçu	red
Definition	Qui est admis, établi, consacré.	Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’impératif à la forme active de reden.

Where the eye mixes reçu and red

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch

reçu

3 ch

red

Why the eye confuses reçu with red

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reçu is \ʁə.sy\ while red is \ʁeːt\. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4311, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reçu is recorded at frequency rank #813, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁə.sy\. red is at rank #3,498, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁeːt\.

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 4311, this pair ranks #431,928 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of reçu vs red

Shared letters: er. Private to "reçu": uç. Private to "red": d.

"reçu" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "red" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "reçu" and "red" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "reçu" is an adjective and "red" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Frequency check: "reçu" vs "red" - which ranks higher?

"reçu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #813 in our French list, against #3,498 for "red". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "reçu" and "red" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

Full dictionary entry for "reçu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "red" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #431,928 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"reçu" and "red" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "red vs Reis". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #431,928 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.