ratésvsrayéWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,980
“ratés” frequency rank
#16,981
“rayé” frequency rank
33961
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ratés rayé
Definition Masculin pluriel de raté. Qui a des raies.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
ratés
4 ch
rayé

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ratés (\ʁa.te\) and rayé (\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 33961, 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\. rayé is at rank #16,981, 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 33961, this pair ranks #287,086 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ratés vs rayé

Shared letters: aré. Private to "ratés": st. Private to "rayé": y.

"ratés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "rayé" · 4 letters · shape CVVV

Frequency comparison

ratés#16,980
rayé#16,981

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ratés" and "rayé" 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, "ratés" or "rayé"?
"ratés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,980 in our French list, against #16,981 for "rayé". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ratés vs rayé

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 “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