Which to use
“ray” is a noun and “rayée” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,886
- “ray” frequency rank
- #34,275
- “rayée” frequency rank
- 39161
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ray | rayée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Culture sur brûlis en Asie. | Féminin singulier de rayé. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ray and rayée apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ray is \ʁɛ\ while rayée is \ʁɛ.je\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “ray” sits inside “rayée”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39161, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ray is recorded at frequency rank #4,886, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁɛ\. rayée is at rank #34,275, 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 39161, this pair ranks #250,035 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ray vs rayée
Shared letters: ary. Private to "ray": -. Private to "rayée": eé.
"ray" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "rayée" · 5 letters · shape CVVVV
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ray" and "rayée" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ray" or "rayée"?
Remembering ray vs rayée
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “ray”; for an adjective, it's “rayée”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ray” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable