redovsrelConfusable pair

Quick tell: redo is a verb, rel is a preposition, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“redo” is a verb and “rel” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,787
“redo” frequency rank
#26,938
“rel” frequency rank
49725
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature redo rel
Definition To do again. Abbreviation of relative to.

Letter map: redo vs rel

Shared letters muted; letters that set redo and rel apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
redo
3 ch
rel

Grammar separator: redo vs rel

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: redo is averb and relapreposition. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49725, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

redo is recorded at frequency rank #22,787, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹiˈduː/. rel is at rank #26,938, tagged as aprep.

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 49725, this pair ranks #180,948 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of redo vs rel

Shared letters: er. Private to "redo": do. Private to "rel": l.

"redo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "rel" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • redoerdo · rdeo · reddo · reod · rredo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "redo" for "rel" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "redo" is a verb and "rel" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary English text, does "redo" or "rel" show up more?
"redo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,787 in our English list, against #26,938 for "rel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "redo" and "rel".

  • Full dictionary entry for "redo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #180,948 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "redo" and "rel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rel vs Rua". 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 #180,948 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list