racevsravenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#14,436
“race” frequency rank
#28,136
“raven” frequency rank
42572
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature race raven
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de razar. Cuervo.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set race and raven apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
race
5 ch
raven

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: race is [ˈrase] while raven is /ˈreɪvən/. 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 42572, 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]. raven is at rank #28,136, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈreɪvən/.

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 42572, this pair ranks #147,462 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of race vs raven

Shared letters: aer. Private to "race": c. Private to "raven": nv.

"race" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "raven" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • raceracce · raec · rase · rcae · rrace
  • ravenarven · raben · raevn · ravenn · ravne · ravven · rraven · rvaen

Frequency comparison

race#14,436
raven#28,136

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "race" and "raven" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "race" is a verb and "raven" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "race" or "raven"?
"race" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,436 in our Spanish list, against #28,136 for "raven". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering race vs raven

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 “raven”.
  • 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