rabaisvsrêvaisWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#12,034
“rabais” frequency rank
#22,084
“rêvais” frequency rank
34118
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rabais rêvais
Definition Acte par lequel un vendeur consent une diminution sur le prix d’un objet ou sur la rémunération d’un travail. Première personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de rêver.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set rabais and rêvais apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
rabais
6 ch
rêvais

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rabais is \ʁa.bɛ\ while rêvais is \ʁɛ.vɛ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34118, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rabais is recorded at frequency rank #12,034, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁa.bɛ\. rêvais is at rank #22,084, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁɛ.vɛ\.

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 34118, this pair ranks #286,034 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of rabais vs rêvais

Shared letters: airs. Private to "rabais": b. Private to "rêvais": .

"rabais" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "rêvais" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rabaisarbais · raabis · rabaiss · rabasi · rabbais · rabias · rbaais · rrabais

Frequency comparison

rabais#12,034
rêvais#22,084

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rabais" and "rêvais" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "rabais" is a noun and "rêvais" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "rabais" or "rêvais"?
"rabais" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,034 in our French list, against #22,084 for "rêvais". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering rabais vs rêvais

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “rabais”; for a verb, it's “rêvais”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “rabais” 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