réalisevsrelireConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#3,290
“réalise” frequency rank
#9,731
“relire” frequency rank
13021
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature réalise relire
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de réaliser. Lire de nouveau.

Where the eye mixes réalise and relire

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

7 ch
réalise
6 ch
relire

Visual trap between réalise and relire

A purely visual mix-up. réalise (\ʁe.a.liz\) and relire (\ʁə.liʁ\) 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 13021, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

réalise is recorded at frequency rank #3,290, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁe.a.liz\. relire is at rank #9,731, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.liʁ\.

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 13021, this pair ranks #402,760 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of réalise vs relire

Shared letters: eilr. Private to "réalise": asé. Private to "relire": -.

"réalise" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV  ·  "relire" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • relireerlire · reilre · relirre · rellire · relrie · rleire · rrelire

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "réalise" and "relire" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ʁe.a.liz\ versus \ʁə.liʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "réalise" or "relire"?
"réalise" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,290 in our French list, against #9,731 for "relire". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "réalise" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "relire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #402,760 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "réalise" and "relire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "relire vs relit". 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 #402,760 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list