reachvsreichWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: reach is a noun, reich is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“reach” is a noun and “reich” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,744
“reach” frequency rank
#21,569
“reich” frequency rank
50313
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reach reich
Definition alcance rico

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set reach and reich apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
reach
5 ch
reich

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reach is /ɹiːt͡ʃ/ while reich is /ʀaɪ̯ç/ ouvir^(fonte ?). Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “reach” becomes i in “reich”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50313, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reach is recorded at frequency rank #28,744, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹiːt͡ʃ/. reich is at rank #21,569, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ʀaɪ̯ç/ ouvir^(fonte ?).

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 50313, this pair ranks #14,658 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of reach vs reich

Shared letters: cehr. Private to "reach": a. Private to "reich": i.

"reach" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "reich" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reacherach · raech · reacch · reachh · reahc · recah · rreach
  • reicherich · recih · reicch · reichh · reihc · riech · rreich

Frequency comparison

reach#28,744
reich#21,569

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "reach" and "reich" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "reach" is a noun and "reich" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "reach" or "reich"?
"reich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,569 in our Portuguese list, against #28,744 for "reach". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering reach vs reich

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “reach”; for an adjective, it's “reich”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “reach” 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