Which to use
“rain” and “remain” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,012
- “rain” frequency rank
- #1,574
- “remain” frequency rank
- 3586
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rain | remain |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Condensed water falling from a cloud. | That which is left; relic; remainder. |
Where the eye mixes rain and remain
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. rain (/ˈɹeɪ̯n/) and remain (/ɹɪˈmeɪn/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3586, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rain is recorded at frequency rank #2,012, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹeɪ̯n/. remain is at rank #1,574, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈmeɪn/.
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 3586, this pair ranks #521,680 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of rain vs remain
Shared letters: ainr. Private to "rain": -. Private to "remain": em.
"rain" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "remain" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC