ratées vs rayée, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#37,024
“ratées” frequency rank: #34,275
“rayée” frequency rank: 71299
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ratées	rayée
Definition	Féminin pluriel de raté.	Féminin singulier de rayé.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch

ratées

5 ch

rayée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ratées (\ʁa.te\) and rayée (\ʁɛ.je\) 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 71299, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ratées is recorded at frequency rank #37,024, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁa.te\. rayée is at rank #34,275, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁɛ.je\.

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 71299, this pair ranks #48,056 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ratées vs rayée

Shared letters: aeré. Private to "ratées": st. Private to "rayée": y.

"ratées" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "rayée" · 5 letters · shape CVVVV

Frequency comparison

ratées#37,024

rayée#34,275

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ratées" and "rayée" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (\ʁa.te\ versus \ʁɛ.je\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "ratées" or "rayée"?

"rayée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,275 in our French list, against #37,024 for "ratées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ratées vs rayée

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 “ratées” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable