Which to use
“râteau” and “ratée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,452
- “râteau” frequency rank
- #15,989
- “ratée” frequency rank
- 49441
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | râteau | ratée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Outil constitué d’un manche et d’une barre garnie de dents en fer ou en bois, utilisé pour regrouper des choses dispersées sur le sol (feuilles mortes, gravillons, terre) et pour égaliser un terrain. | Femme qui n’a pas réussi dans une entreprise, dans une démarche, dans sa vie, etc. |
Where the eye mixes râteau and ratée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. râteau runs 6 letters (CVCVVV) against ratée's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between râteau and ratée
A purely visual mix-up. râteau (\ʁɑ.to\) and ratée (\ʁa.te\) 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 49441, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
râteau is recorded at frequency rank #33,452, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁɑ.to\. ratée is at rank #15,989, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁa.te\.
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 49441, this pair ranks #170,646 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of râteau vs ratée
Shared letters: aert. Private to "râteau": uâ. Private to "ratée": é.
"râteau" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVV · "ratée" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "râteau" and "ratée" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "râteau" vs "ratée" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "râteau" and "ratée" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "râteau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ratée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #170,646 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "râteau" and "ratée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "râteau vs ratées". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #170,646 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.