Which to use
“radon” is a noun and “ran” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,384
- “radon” frequency rank
- #1,437
- “ran” frequency rank
- 34821
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | radon | ran |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The chemical element (symbol Rn, formerly Ro) with atomic number 86. It is an odorless, colorless, chemically inert but radioactive noble gas. | simple past of run |
Where the eye mixes radon and ran
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between radon and ran
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: radon is /ˈɹeɪdɒn/ while ran is /ɹæn/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34821, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
radon is recorded at frequency rank #33,384, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹeɪdɒn/. ran is at rank #1,437, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹæn/.
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 34821, this pair ranks #317,374 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of radon vs ran
Shared letters: anr. Private to "radon": do. Private to "ran": -.
"radon" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "ran" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- radon ← ardon · raddon · radno · radonn · raodn · rdaon · rradon
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "radon" for "ran" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "radon" or "ran" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "radon" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ran" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #317,374 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "radon" and "ran" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "radon vs ripon". 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 #317,374 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.