rayvsrobWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,350
“ray” frequency rank
#12,919
“rob” frequency rank
19269
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ray rob
Definition Rayo. Jugo o pulpa de fruta, cocida con azúcar o miel hasta tomar densidad de almíbar.

Where the eye mixes ray and rob

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

3 ch
ray
3 ch
rob

Look-alike desk: ray vs rob

A purely visual mix-up. ray (/ɹeɪ/) and rob ([ˈroβ̞]) 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 19269, 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/. rob is at rank #12,919, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈroβ̞].

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 19269, this pair ranks #264,479 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ray vs rob

Shared letters: r. Private to "ray": ay. Private to "rob": bo.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ray" and "rob" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ɹeɪ/ versus [ˈroβ̞]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ray" vs "rob" - which ranks higher?
"ray" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,350 in our Spanish list, against #12,919 for "rob". 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 "rob" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #264,479 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ray" and "rob" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "riba vs rob". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #264,479 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