racevsrapWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#14,436
“race” frequency rank
#8,576
“rap” frequency rank
23012
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature race rap
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de razar. Estilo musical basado en la recitación rítmica de rimas, juegos de palabras y poesía surgido a mediados del siglo XX entre la comunidad negra de los Estados Unidos.

Where the eye mixes race and rap

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
race
3 ch
rap

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: race is [ˈrase] while rap is [ˈrap]. 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 23012, 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]. rap is at rank #8,576, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈrap].

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 23012, this pair ranks #247,750 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of race vs rap

Shared letters: ar. Private to "race": ce. Private to "rap": p.

"race" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "rap" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • raceracce · raec · rase · rcae · rrace

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "race" and "rap" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "race" is a verb and "rap" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "race" or "rap"?
"rap" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,576 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.

What to do next

You've compared "race" and "rap". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "race" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rap" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #247,750 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "race" and "rap" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "race vs rajo". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list