Which to use
“rays” is a noun and “runs” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,153
- “rays” frequency rank
- #40,182
- “runs” frequency rank
- 77335
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rays | runs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Plural des Substantivs ray | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs run |
Where the eye mixes rays and runs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between rays and runs
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rays is [ɹeɪz] while runs is [ɹʌnz]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77335, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rays is recorded at frequency rank #37,153, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɹeɪz]. runs is at rank #40,182, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɹʌnz].
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 77335, this pair ranks #263,109 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of rays vs runs
Shared letters: rs. Private to "rays": ay. Private to "runs": nu.
"rays" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "runs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "rays" and "runs" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "rays" or "runs"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "rays" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "runs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #263,109 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rays" and "runs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "RUB vs runs". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #263,109 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.