ratésvsritesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#16,980
“ratés” frequency rank
#13,249
“rites” frequency rank
30229
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ratés rites
Definition Masculin pluriel de raté. Pluriel de rite.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
ratés
5 ch
rites

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ratés is \ʁa.te\ while rites is \ʁit\. 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 30229, 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\. rites is at rank #13,249, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁit\.

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 30229, this pair ranks #311,717 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ratés vs rites

Shared letters: rst. Private to "ratés": . Private to "rites": ei.

"ratés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "rites" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ritesirtes · riets · ritess · ritse · rittes · rrites · rties

Frequency comparison

ratés#16,980
rites#13,249

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ratés" and "rites" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ratés" is an adjective and "rites" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ratés" or "rites"?
"rites" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,249 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 rites

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 “rites”.
  • 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