Which to use
“ray” is a noun and “re” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,087
- “ray” frequency rank
- #593
- “re” frequency rank
- 2680
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ray | re |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A beam of light or radiation. | About, regarding, with reference to; especially in letters, documents, emails and case law. |
Where the eye mixes ray and re
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ray with re
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ray is /ɹeɪ/ while re is /ɹiː/. 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 preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2680, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ray is recorded at frequency rank #2,087, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹeɪ/. 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 2680, this pair ranks #524,338 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ray vs re
Shared letters: r. Private to "ray": ay. Private to "re": e.
"ray" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "re" · 2 letters · shape CV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ray" and "re" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ray" or "re"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ray" and "re" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ray" 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 #524,338 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ray" and "re" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ray vs Rua". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #524,338 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.