Which to use
“ray” and “Re” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,886
- “ray” frequency rank
- #2,641
- “Re” frequency rank
- 7527
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ray | Re |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Culture sur brûlis en Asie. | Taux effectif de transmission d’une maladie. |
Where the eye mixes ray and Re
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ray with Re
A purely visual mix-up. ray (\ʁɛ\) and Re (\ɛ.ʁœ\) 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 7527, 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\. Re is at rank #2,641, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛ.ʁœ\.
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 7527, this pair ranks #422,899 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ray vs Re
Shared letters: r. Private to "ray": ay. Private to "Re": e.
"ray" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "Re" · 2 letters · shape CV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ray" and "Re" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ray" or "Re"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ray" and "Re" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ray" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Re" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #422,899 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ray" and "Re" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ray vs roya". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #422,899 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.