Which to use
“râteau” is a noun and “ratés” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,452
- “râteau” frequency rank
- #16,980
- “ratés” frequency rank
- 50432
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | râteau | ratés |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Masculin pluriel de raté. |
Where the eye mixes râteau and ratés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. râteau runs 6 letters (CVCVVV) against ratés's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses râteau with ratés
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: râteau is \ʁɑ.to\ while ratés is \ʁa.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50432, 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\. ratés is at rank #16,980, tagged as anadj, 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 50432, this pair ranks #162,689 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of râteau vs ratés
Shared letters: art. Private to "râteau": euâ. Private to "ratés": sé.
"râteau" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVV · "ratés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "râteau" and "ratés" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "râteau" vs "ratés" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "râteau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ratés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #162,689 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "râteau" and "ratés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "râteau vs ratées". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #162,689 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.