rayvsresTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,350
“ray” frequency rank
#10,209
“res” frequency rank
16559
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ray res
Definition Rayo. Cabeza de ganado o de caza mayor, especialmente considerado en cuanto a su aprovechamiento alimentario o económico.

Where the eye mixes ray and res

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
ray
3 ch
res

Look-alike desk: ray vs res

A purely visual mix-up. ray (/ɹeɪ/) and res ([ˈres]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16559, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ray is recorded at frequency rank #6,350, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹeɪ/. res is at rank #10,209, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈres].

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 16559, this pair ranks #275,666 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ray vs res

Shared letters: r. Private to "ray": ay. Private to "res": es.

"ray" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "res" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ray" for "res" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ɹeɪ/ versus [ˈres]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ray" vs "res" - which ranks higher?
"ray" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,350 in our Spanish list, against #10,209 for "res". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ray" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "res" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #275,666 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ray" and "res" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "res vs rias". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #275,666 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