Which to use
“raison” and “reason” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #259
- “raison” frequency rank
- #41,997
- “reason” frequency rank
- 42256
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | raison | reason |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Faculté intellectuelle par laquelle l’homme connaît, juge et se conduit ; entendement. | Raison. |
Where the eye mixes raison and reason
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses raison with reason
A purely visual mix-up. raison (\ʁɛ.zɔ̃\) and reason (\ˈɹiː.zən\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42256, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
raison is recorded at frequency rank #259, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁɛ.zɔ̃\. reason is at rank #41,997, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈɹiː.zən\.
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 42256, this pair ranks #226,995 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of raison vs reason
Shared letters: anors. Private to "raison": i. Private to "reason": e.
"raison" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "reason" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "raison" and "reason" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "raison" or "reason"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "raison" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "reason" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #226,995 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "raison" and "reason" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "radon vs reason". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #226,995 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.