reachvsreadWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#37,998
“reach” frequency rank
#18,298
“read” frequency rank
56296
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reach read
Definition Pourcentage de cible ayant été touchée par une campagne marketing. Lecture.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set reach and read apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
reach
4 ch
read

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. reach (\ʁitʃ\) and read (\ɹiːd\) 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 56296, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reach is recorded at frequency rank #37,998, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁitʃ\. read is at rank #18,298, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɹiːd\.

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 56296, this pair ranks #121,988 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of reach vs read

Shared letters: aer. Private to "reach": ch. Private to "read": d.

"reach" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "read" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reacherach · raech · reacch · reachh · reahc · recah · rreach
  • readerad · readd · rread

Frequency comparison

reach#37,998
read#18,298

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "reach" and "read" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁitʃ\ versus \ɹiːd\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "reach" or "read"?
"read" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,298 in our French list, against #37,998 for "reach". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering reach vs read

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 “reach” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list