Français homophones

rai/raie/raies/rais/ray/rays/res/rest/Retz

"rai" is a noun; "res" is a verb - grammar picks the spelling, not sound. Size rank #1 of 9,139 French groups.

Data vintage 2026-05-06

Grammar picks the spelling

Same sound, different grammar: "rai" arrives as a noun, while "res" is a verb. Once the sentence role is fixed, only one spelling fits.

Spelling pairs in this cluster

Shared stem "rai" then splits - "rai" (3 letters) vs "raie" (4).
Shared stem "rai" then splits - "rai" (3 letters) vs "raies" (5).
Shared stem "rai" then splits - "rai" (3 letters) vs "rais" (4).
Single-letter fork: "rai" keeps i, "ray" writes y at letter 3.
Shared stem "ra" then splits - "rai" (3 letters) vs "rays" (4).
No shared spelling stem: "rai" is 3 letters, "res" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "rai" is 3 letters, "rest" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "rai" is 3 letters, "Retz" is 4; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "raie" then splits - "raie" (4 letters) vs "raies" (5).
Single-letter fork: "raie" keeps e, "rais" writes s at letter 4.
Shared stem "ra" then splits - "raie" (4 letters) vs "ray" (3).
Shared stem "ra" then splits - "raie" (4 letters) vs "rays" (4).
No shared spelling stem: "raie" is 4 letters, "res" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "raie" is 4 letters, "rest" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "raie" is 4 letters, "Retz" is 4; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "rai" then splits - "raies" (5 letters) vs "rais" (4).
Shared stem "ra" then splits - "raies" (5 letters) vs "ray" (3).
Shared stem "ra" then splits - "raies" (5 letters) vs "rays" (4).
No shared spelling stem: "raies" is 5 letters, "res" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "raies" is 5 letters, "rest" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "raies" is 5 letters, "Retz" is 4; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "ra" then splits - "rais" (4 letters) vs "ray" (3).
Shared stem "ra" then splits - "rais" (4 letters) vs "rays" (4).
No shared spelling stem: "rais" is 4 letters, "res" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "rais" is 4 letters, "rest" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "rais" is 4 letters, "Retz" is 4; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "ray" then splits - "ray" (3 letters) vs "rays" (4).
No shared spelling stem: "ray" is 3 letters, "res" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "ray" is 3 letters, "rest" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "ray" is 3 letters, "Retz" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "rays" is 4 letters, "res" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "rays" is 4 letters, "rest" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "rays" is 4 letters, "Retz" is 4; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "res" then splits - "res" (3 letters) vs "rest" (4).
Shared stem "re" then splits - "res" (3 letters) vs "Retz" (4).
Shared stem "re" then splits - "rest" (4 letters) vs "Retz" (4).

Orthographic DNA of this cluster

Shared letters across rai, raie, raies, rais, ray, rays, res, rest, Retz: r. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.

rai
3 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVV
Inventory air · private ai
raie
4 letters · 3 vowels · shape CVVV
Inventory aeir · private aei
raies
5 letters · 3 vowels · shape CVVVC
Inventory aeirs · private aeis
rais
4 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVC
Inventory airs · private ais
ray
3 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVV
Inventory ary · private ay
rays
4 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVC
Inventory arsy · private asy
res
3 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVC
Inventory ers · private es
rest
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCC
Inventory erst · private est
Retz
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCC
Inventory ertz · private etz

Pick the spelling from the meaning

Write "rai" when you mean: Rayon, trait de lumière.
Write "raie" when you mean: Ligne tracée sur une surface.
Write "raies" when you mean: Pluriel de raie.
Write "rais" when you mean: Ancienne orthographe de rai, figurant au Dictionnaire de l'Académie française jusqu’en 1878.
Write "ray" when you mean: Culture sur brûlis en Asie.
Write "rays" when you mean: Pluriel de ray.
Write "res" when you mean: Deuxième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe rêtre.
Write "rest" when you mean: Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe rêtre.
Write "Retz" when you mean: Pays de Bretagne, élevé en duché, dont la capitale a été Rezé puis Pornic.

Known mistypes of these spellings

Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.

raie ← raei · riae · rraie
raies ← raeis · raiess · raise · riaes · rraies
rais ← raiss · rasi · rias · rrais
rays ← arys · rasy · rayss · rayys · rrays · ryas
rest ← erst · resst · restt · rets · rrest · rset
Retz ← ertz · rettz · retzz · rezt · rretz · rtez

Each spelling

rai

noun · /\ʁɛ\/ · #22,057 frequency

Rayon, trait de lumière.

raie

noun · /\ʁɛ\/ · #16,222 frequency

Ligne tracée sur une surface.

raies

noun · /\ʁɛ\/ · #24,003 frequency

Pluriel de raie.

rais

noun · /\ʁɛ\/ · #37,509 frequency

Ancienne orthographe de rai, figurant au Dictionnaire de l'Académie française jusqu’en 1878.

ray

noun · /\ʁɛ\/ · #4,886 frequency

Culture sur brûlis en Asie.

rays

noun · /\ʁɛ\/ · #38,501 frequency

Pluriel de ray.

res

verb · /\ʁɛ\/ · #12,853 frequency

Deuxième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe rêtre.

rest

verb · /\ʁɛ\/ · #24,744 frequency

Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe rêtre.

Retz

name · /\ʁɛ\/ · #31,695 frequency

Pays de Bretagne, élevé en duché, dont la capitale a été Rezé puis Pornic.