raidsvsraisWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,673
“raids” frequency rank
#37,509
“rais” frequency rank
51182
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature raids rais
Definition Pluriel de raid. Ancienne orthographe de rai, figurant au Dictionnaire de l'Académie française jusqu’en 1878.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
raids
4 ch
rais

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. raids (\ʁɛd\) and rais (\ʁɛ\) 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 51182, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

raids is recorded at frequency rank #13,673, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁɛd\. rais is at rank #37,509, 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 51182, this pair ranks #156,956 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of raids vs rais

Shared letters: airs. Private to "raids": d. Private to "rais": -.

"raids" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "rais" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • raidsarids · raidds · raidss · raisd · riads · rraids
  • raisraiss · rasi · rias · rrais

Frequency comparison

raids#13,673
rais#37,509

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "raids" and "rais" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁɛd\ versus \ʁɛ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "raids" or "rais"?
"raids" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,673 in our French list, against #37,509 for "rais". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering raids vs rais

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 “raids” 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