reçuvsrevWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: reçu is a adjective, rev is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#813
“reçu” frequency rank
#25,795
“rev” frequency rank
26608
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reçu rev
Definition Qui est admis, établi, consacré. Accélérer.

Where the eye mixes reçu and rev

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

4 ch
reçu
3 ch
rev

Why the eye confuses reçu with rev

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reçu is \ʁə.sy\ while rev is \ɹɛv\. 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 26608, 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\. rev is at rank #25,795, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɹɛv\.

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 26608, this pair ranks #333,932 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of reçu vs rev

Shared letters: er. Private to "reçu": . Private to "rev": v.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "reçu" and "rev" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "reçu" is an adjective and "rev" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "reçu" or "rev" show up more?
"reçu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #813 in our French list, against #25,795 for "rev". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "reçu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rev" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #333,932 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "reçu" and "rev" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Reis vs rev". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #333,932 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list