ratésvsratioWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ratés is a adjective, ratio is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ratés” is an adjective and “ratio” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,980
“ratés” frequency rank
#8,607
“ratio” frequency rank
25587
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ratés ratio
Definition Masculin pluriel de raté. Proportion entre deux valeurs de même nature.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ratés and ratio apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
ratés
5 ch
ratio

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ratés is \ʁa.te\ while ratio is \ʁa.sjo\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25587, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ratés is recorded at frequency rank #16,980, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁa.te\. ratio is at rank #8,607, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁa.sjo\.

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 25587, this pair ranks #340,002 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ratés vs ratio

Shared letters: art. Private to "ratés": . Private to "ratio": io.

"ratés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "ratio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ratioartio · raito · ratoi · rattio · rratio · rtaio

Frequency comparison

ratés#16,980
ratio#8,607

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ratés" and "ratio" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ratés" is an adjective and "ratio" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ratés" or "ratio"?
"ratio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,607 in our French list, against #16,980 for "ratés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ratés vs ratio

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “ratés”; for a noun, it's “ratio”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ratés” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list