reopenvsropesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: reopen is a verb, ropes is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“reopen” is a verb and “ropes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,786
“reopen” frequency rank
#11,955
“ropes” frequency rank
28741
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reopen ropes
Definition To open (something) again. plural of rope

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set reopen and ropes apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
reopen
5 ch
ropes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reopen is /ɹiːˈəʊpən/ while ropes is /ɹoʊps/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28741, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reopen is recorded at frequency rank #16,786, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹiːˈəʊpən/. ropes is at rank #11,955, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹoʊps/.

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 28741, this pair ranks #368,679 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of reopen vs ropes

Shared letters: eopr. Private to "reopen": n. Private to "ropes": s.

"reopen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "ropes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reopeneropen · reoepn · reopenn · reopne · reoppen · repoen · roepen · rreopen
  • ropesorpes · roeps · ropess · roppes · ropse · rpoes · rropes

Frequency comparison

reopen#16,786
ropes#11,955

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "reopen" and "ropes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "reopen" is a verb and "ropes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "reopen" or "ropes"?
"ropes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,955 in our English list, against #16,786 for "reopen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering reopen vs ropes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “reopen”; for a noun, it's “ropes”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “reopen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list