reivsreineWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#14,940
“rei” frequency rank
#40,508
“reine” frequency rank
55448
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rei reine
Definition Grafía obsoleta de rey. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de reinar.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
rei
5 ch
reine

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rei is [ˈrej] while reine is [ˈrejne]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “rei” sits inside “reine”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55448, 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]. reine is at rank #40,508, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈrejne].

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 55448, this pair ranks #78,844 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of rei vs reine

Shared letters: eir. Private to "rei": -. Private to "reine": n.

"rei" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "reine" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reineerine · reien · reinne · renie · rreine

Frequency comparison

rei#14,940
reine#40,508

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rei" and "reine" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "rei" is a noun and "reine" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "rei" or "reine"?
"rei" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,940 in our Spanish list, against #40,508 for "reine". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering rei vs reine

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “rei”; for a verb, it's “reine”.
  • 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