Which to use
“rake” is a noun and “re” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,699
- “rake” frequency rank
- #593
- “re” frequency rank
- 18292
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rake | re |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A garden tool with a row of pointed teeth fixed to a long handle, used for collecting debris, grass, etc., for flattening the ground, or for loosening soil; also, a similar wheel-mounted tool drawn by a horse or a tractor. | About, regarding, with reference to; especially in letters, documents, emails and case law. |
Where the eye mixes rake and re
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses rake with re
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rake is /ɹeɪk/ while re is /ɹiː/. 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 preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18292, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rake is recorded at frequency rank #17,699, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹeɪk/. re is at rank #593, tagged as aprep, pronounced /ɹiː/.
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 18292, this pair ranks #445,872 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of rake vs re
Shared letters: er. Private to "rake": ak. Private to "re": -.
"rake" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "re" · 2 letters · shape CV
Known mistypes of this pair
- rake ← arke · raek · rakke · rkae · rrake
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "rake" and "re" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "rake" or "re" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "rake" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "re" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #445,872 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rake" and "re" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rake vs Rhee". 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 #445,872 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.