Which to use
“raisons” and “rayons” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,148
- “raisons” frequency rank
- #5,492
- “rayons” frequency rank
- 6640
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | raisons | rayons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de raison. | Pluriel de rayon. |
Where the eye mixes raisons and rayons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: raisons vs rayons
A purely visual mix-up. raisons (\ʁɛ.zɔ̃\) and rayons (\ʁɛ.jɔ̃\) 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 6640, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
raisons is recorded at frequency rank #1,148, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁɛ.zɔ̃\. rayons is at rank #5,492, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁɛ.jɔ̃\.
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 6640, this pair ranks #425,660 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of raisons vs rayons
Shared letters: anors. Private to "raisons": i. Private to "rayons": y.
"raisons" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC · "rayons" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "raisons" and "rayons" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "raisons" vs "rayons" - which ranks higher?
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 "raisons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rayons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #425,660 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "raisons" and "rayons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rayons vs rêvons". 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 #425,660 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.