Which to use
“Re” and “rule” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,641
- “Re” frequency rank
- #39,521
- “rule” frequency rank
- 42162
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Re | rule |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Taux effectif de transmission d’une maladie. | Règle (ordre). |
Where the eye mixes Re and rule
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Re and rule
A purely visual mix-up. Re (\ɛ.ʁœ\) and rule (\ɹuːl\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42162, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Re is recorded at frequency rank #2,641, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛ.ʁœ\. rule is at rank #39,521, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɹuːl\.
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 42162, this pair ranks #227,748 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Re vs rule
Shared letters: er. Private to "Re": -. Private to "rule": lu.
"Re" · 2 letters · shape CV · "rule" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- rule ← rlue · rrule · ruel · rulle · urle
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Re" and "rule" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "Re" or "rule" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Re" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rule" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #227,748 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Re" and "rule" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "râles vs rule". 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 #227,748 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.