Which to use
“ray” and “rey” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,350
- “ray” frequency rank
- #492
- “rey” frequency rank
- 6842
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ray | rey |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Rayo. | Monarca soberano de un reino. |
Where the eye mixes ray and rey
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ray vs rey
A purely visual mix-up. ray (/ɹeɪ/) and rey ([ˈrej]) 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 a single letter - a in “ray” becomes e in “rey”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6842, 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/. rey is at rank #492, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈrej].
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 6842, this pair ranks #309,649 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ray vs rey
Shared letters: ry. Private to "ray": a. Private to "rey": e.
"ray" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "rey" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ray" and "rey" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "ray" or "rey"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ray" and "rey" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ray" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rey" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #309,649 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ray" and "rey" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rajo vs ray". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #309,649 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.