Which to use
“reed” and “rey” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,037
- “reed” frequency rank
- #22,116
- “rey” frequency rank
- 40153
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reed | rey |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | bestimmtes Gras; Schilf | König |
Where the eye mixes reed and rey
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between reed and rey
A purely visual mix-up. reed ([riːd]) and rey ([rej]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40153, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reed is recorded at frequency rank #18,037, classified as anoun, pronounced [riːd]. rey is at rank #22,116, tagged as anoun, pronounced [rej].
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 40153, this pair ranks #1,516,567 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of reed vs rey
Shared letters: er. Private to "reed": d. Private to "rey": y.
"reed" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "rey" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- reed ← reedd · rreed
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "reed" and "rey" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "reed" vs "rey" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "reed" and "rey" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "reed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rey" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,516,567 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reed" and "rey" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rey vs RUB". 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 #1,516,567 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.