realvsreiWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: real is a adjective, rei is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“real” is an adjective and “rei” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#322
“real” frequency rank
#14,940
“rei” frequency rank
15262
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature real rei
Definition Propio de o relativo al rey, la realeza o el reino Grafía obsoleta de rey.

Where the eye mixes real and rei

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

4 ch
real
3 ch
rei

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: real is [reˈal] while rei is [ˈrej]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15262, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

real is recorded at frequency rank #322, classified as anadj, pronounced [reˈal]. rei is at rank #14,940, 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 15262, this pair ranks #280,894 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of real vs rei

Shared letters: er. Private to "real": al. Private to "rei": i.

"real" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "rei" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • realeral · rael · reall · rela · rreal

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "real" and "rei" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "real" is an adjective and "rei" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "real" or "rei"?
"real" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #322 in our Spanish list, against #14,940 for "rei". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list