racevsraícesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#14,436
“race” frequency rank
#3,653
“raíces” frequency rank
18089
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature race raíces
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de razar. Origen de una persona, tanto familiar, como en cuanto al lugar de donde procede.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
race
6 ch
raíces

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: race is [ˈrase] while raíces is [raˈises]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18089, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

race is recorded at frequency rank #14,436, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈrase]. raíces is at rank #3,653, tagged as anoun, pronounced [raˈises].

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 18089, this pair ranks #269,372 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of race vs raíces

Shared letters: acer. Private to "race": -. Private to "raíces": .

"race" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "raíces" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • raceracce · raec · rase · rcae · rrace

Frequency comparison

race#14,436
raíces#3,653

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "race" and "raíces" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "race" is a verb and "raíces" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "race" or "raíces"?
"raíces" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,653 in our Spanish list, against #14,436 for "race". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering race vs raíces

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “race”; for a noun, it's “raíces”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “race” 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