Which to use
“ratées” and “rayés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,024
- “ratées” frequency rank
- #43,107
- “rayés” frequency rank
- 80131
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ratées | rayés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de raté. | Masculin pluriel de rayé. |
Where the eye mixes ratées and rayés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ratées runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against rayés's 5 (CVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between ratées and rayés
A purely visual mix-up. ratées (\ʁa.te\) and rayés (\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 80131, 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\. rayés is at rank #43,107, 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 80131, this pair ranks #21,669 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ratées vs rayés
Shared letters: arsé. Private to "ratées": et. Private to "rayés": y.
"ratées" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "rayés" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ratées" and "rayés" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "ratées" vs "rayés" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ratées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rayés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #21,669 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ratées" and "rayés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rayés vs Rhys". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #21,669 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.