Which to use
“ran” is a verb and “runa” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,290
- “ran” frequency rank
- #41,061
- “runa” frequency rank
- 65351
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ran | runa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pasado simple (irregular) del verbo (to) run. | Cada uno de los caracteres angulosos de varios alfabetos derivados del itálico antiguo empleados por los pueblos germánicos durante la Antigüedad y el Medioevo. |
Where the eye mixes ran and runa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ran with runa
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ran is /ɹæn/ while runa is [ˈruna]. 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 65351, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ran is recorded at frequency rank #24,290, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹæn/. runa is at rank #41,061, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈruna].
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 65351, this pair ranks #42,902 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ran vs runa
Shared letters: anr. Private to "ran": -. Private to "runa": u.
"ran" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "runa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- runa ← rnua · rruna · ruan · runna
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ran" and "runa" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "ran" or "runa" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ran" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "runa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #42,902 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ran" and "runa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "riba vs runa". 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 #42,902 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.