Which to use
“raft” is a noun and “ran” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,892
- “raft” frequency rank
- #1,437
- “ran” frequency rank
- 17329
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | raft | ran |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A flat-bottomed craft able to float and drift on water, used for transport or as a waterborne platform. | simple past of run |
Where the eye mixes raft and ran
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between raft and ran
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: raft is /ɹɑːft/ while ran is /ɹæn/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 17329, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
raft is recorded at frequency rank #15,892, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹɑːft/. 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 17329, this pair ranks #452,133 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of raft vs ran
Shared letters: ar. Private to "raft": ft. Private to "ran": n.
"raft" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "ran" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- raft ← arft · rafft · raftt · ratf · rfat · rraft
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "raft" and "ran" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "raft" or "ran"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "raft" 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 #452,133 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "raft" and "ran" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "raft vs rafter". 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 #452,133 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.