racingvsravinWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,281
“racing” frequency rank
#19,382
“ravin” frequency rank
30663
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature racing ravin
Definition Course de vitesse de lévriers dans un cynodrome (à la différence du coursing qui se déroule dans un terrain libre). Forte dépression de terrain ; vallon étroit et raide.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
racing
5 ch
ravin

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. racing (\ʁa.siŋ\) and ravin (\ʁa.vɛ̃\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30663, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

racing is recorded at frequency rank #11,281, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁa.siŋ\. ravin is at rank #19,382, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁa.vɛ̃\.

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 30663, this pair ranks #308,776 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of racing vs ravin

Shared letters: ainr. Private to "racing": cg. Private to "ravin": v.

"racing" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "ravin" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • racingarcing · raccing · racign · racingg · racinng · racnig · raicng · rcaing
  • ravinarvin · raivn · ravinn · ravni · ravvin · rravin · rvain

Frequency comparison

racing#11,281
ravin#19,382

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "racing" and "ravin" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁa.siŋ\ versus \ʁa.vɛ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "racing" or "ravin"?
"racing" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,281 in our French list, against #19,382 for "ravin". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering racing vs ravin

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “racing” 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