reivsreichWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#14,940
“rei” frequency rank
#18,665
“reich” frequency rank
33605
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rei reich
Definition Grafía obsoleta de rey. Rico en.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set rei and reich apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
rei
5 ch
reich

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rei is [ˈrej] while reich is [raɪ̯ç]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “rei” sits inside “reich”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33605, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rei is recorded at frequency rank #14,940, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈrej]. reich is at rank #18,665, tagged as anadj, pronounced [raɪ̯ç].

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 33605, this pair ranks #195,903 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of rei vs reich

Shared letters: eir. Private to "rei": -. Private to "reich": ch.

"rei" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "reich" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reicherich · recih · reicch · reichh · reihc · riech · rreich

Frequency comparison

rei#14,940
reich#18,665

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rei" and "reich" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "rei" is a noun and "reich" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "rei" or "reich"?
"rei" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,940 in our Spanish list, against #18,665 for "reich". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering rei vs reich

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “rei”; for an adjective, it's “reich”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “rei” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list