Which to use
“Ra” is a name and “ray” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,648
- “Ra” frequency rank
- #4,886
- “ray” frequency rank
- 16534
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Ra | ray |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Autre transcription de Rê (dieu Soleil de la mythologie égyptienne). | Culture sur brûlis en Asie. |
Where the eye mixes Ra and ray
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ra is \ʁa\ while ray is \ʁɛ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Ra” sits inside “ray”, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16534, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Ra is recorded at frequency rank #11,648, classified as aname, pronounced \ʁa\. ray is at rank #4,886, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁɛ\.
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 16534, this pair ranks #387,392 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Ra vs ray
Shared letters: ar. Private to "Ra": -. Private to "ray": y.
"Ra" · 2 letters · shape CV · "ray" · 3 letters · shape CVV