Which to use
“rays” and “rus” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,501
- “rays” frequency rank
- #37,537
- “rus” frequency rank
- 76038
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rays | rus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de ray. | Pluriel de ru. |
Where the eye mixes rays and rus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses rays with rus
A purely visual mix-up. rays (\ʁɛ\) and rus (\ʁy\) 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 76038, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rays is recorded at frequency rank #38,501, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁɛ\. rus is at rank #37,537, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁy\.
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 76038, this pair ranks #32,291 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of rays vs rus
Shared letters: rs. Private to "rays": ay. Private to "rus": u.
"rays" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "rus" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- rays ← arys · rasy · rayss · rayys · rrays · ryas
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "rays" for "rus" ever safe?
Which is more common, "rays" or "rus"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "rays" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #32,291 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rays" and "rus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rays vs roya". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #32,291 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.