rationvsratonWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,645
“ration” frequency rank
#31,675
“raton” frequency rank
51320
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ration raton
Definition Portion journalière soit de pain, soit d’autres vivres, soit de fourrage, qui se distribue aux soldats ou aux marins. Petit du rat.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ration and raton apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
ration
5 ch
raton

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ration (\ʁa.sjɔ̃\) and raton (\ʁa.tɔ̃\) 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 51320, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ration is recorded at frequency rank #19,645, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁa.sjɔ̃\. raton is at rank #31,675, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁa.tɔ̃\.

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 51320, this pair ranks #155,923 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ration vs raton

Shared letters: anort. Private to "ration": i. Private to "raton": -.

"ration" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "raton" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rationartion · raiton · ratino · rationn · ratoin · rattion · rration · rtaion
  • ratonarton · raotn · ratno · ratonn · ratton · rraton · rtaon

Frequency comparison

ration#19,645
raton#31,675

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ration" and "raton" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁa.sjɔ̃\ versus \ʁa.tɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ration" or "raton"?
"ration" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,645 in our French list, against #31,675 for "raton". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ration vs raton

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 “ration” 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