recibovsrecifeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“recibo” and “recife” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#19,829
“recibo” frequency rank
#2,907
“recife” frequency rank
22736
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recibo recife
Definition declaração escrita de se ter recebido algo; quitação formação rochosa encontrada no oceano, formada por fragmentos de animais marinhos

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
recibo
6 ch
recife

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. recibo (/Rɨ.ˈsi.bu/) and recife (/xe.ˈsi.fi/) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22736, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recibo is recorded at frequency rank #19,829, classified as anoun, pronounced /Rɨ.ˈsi.bu/. recife is at rank #2,907, tagged as anoun, pronounced /xe.ˈsi.fi/.

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 22736, this pair ranks #47,240 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of recibo vs recife

Shared letters: ceir. Private to "recibo": bo. Private to "recife": f.

"recibo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "recife" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reciboercibo · rceibo · recbio · reccibo · recibbo · reciob · reicbo · rrecibo
  • recifeercife · rceife · reccife · recfie · recief · reciffe · reicfe · rrecife

Frequency comparison

recibo#19,829
recife#2,907

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "recibo" and "recife" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/Rɨ.ˈsi.bu/ versus /xe.ˈsi.fi/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "recibo" or "recife"?
"recife" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,907 in our Portuguese list, against #19,829 for "recibo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering recibo vs recife

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 “recibo” 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