racevsReWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“race” and “Re” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,098
“race” frequency rank
#2,641
“Re” frequency rank
4739
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature race Re
Definition Lignée ; ensemble des ascendants et des descendants d’une même famille. Taux effectif de transmission d’une maladie.

Where the eye mixes race and Re

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
race
2 ch
Re

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. race (\ʁas\) and Re (\ɛ.ʁœ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4739, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

race is recorded at frequency rank #2,098, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁas\. Re is at rank #2,641, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛ.ʁœ\.

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 4739, this pair ranks #430,824 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of race vs Re

Shared letters: er. Private to "race": ac. Private to "Re": -.

"race" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Re" · 2 letters · shape CV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • racearce · racce · raec · rcae · rrace

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "race" and "Re" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁas\ versus \ɛ.ʁœ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "race" or "Re"?
"race" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,098 in our French list, against #2,641 for "Re". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list