racevsrueWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“race” and “rue” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#14,436
“race” frequency rank
#21,145
“rue” frequency rank
35581
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature race rue
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de razar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de ruar.

Where the eye mixes race and rue

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

4 ch
race
3 ch
rue

Visual trap between race and rue

A purely visual mix-up. race ([ˈrase]) and rue ([ˈrwe]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35581, 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]. rue is at rank #21,145, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈrwe].

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 35581, this pair ranks #185,313 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of race vs rue

Shared letters: er. Private to "race": ac. Private to "rue": u.

"race" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "rue" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • raceracce · raec · rase · rcae · rrace

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "race" and "rue" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈrase] versus [ˈrwe]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "race" or "rue" show up more?
"race" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,436 in our Spanish list, against #21,145 for "rue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "race" and "rue" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "race" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #185,313 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "race" and "rue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rue vs rulo". 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 #185,313 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list