Which to use
“ratés” is an adjective and “relatés” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,980
- “ratés” frequency rank
- #48,148
- “relatés” frequency rank
- 65128
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ratés | relatés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de raté. | Participe passé masculin pluriel de relater. |
Where the eye mixes ratés and relatés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. ratés runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against relatés's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between ratés and relatés
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ratés is \ʁa.te\ while relatés is \ʁə.la.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65128, 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\. relatés is at rank #48,148, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.la.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 65128, this pair ranks #73,722 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ratés vs relatés
Shared letters: arsté. Private to "ratés": -. Private to "relatés": el.
"ratés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "relatés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ratés" for "relatés" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "ratés" or "relatés" show up more?
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 "ratés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "relatés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #73,722 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ratés" and "relatés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "relatés vs rénales". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #73,722 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.