réduisvsrelaisWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: réduis is a verb, relais is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“réduis” is a verb and “relais” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,708
“réduis” frequency rank
#4,094
“relais” frequency rank
48802
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature réduis relais
Definition Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de réduire. Un ou plusieurs chevaux frais, soit de selle, soit d’attelage, que l’on poste en quelque endroit pour remplacer ou renforcer ceux qui ont servi jusque-là.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
réduis
6 ch
relais

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: réduis is \ʁe.dɥi\ while relais is \ʁə.lɛ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48802, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

réduis is recorded at frequency rank #44,708, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁe.dɥi\. relais is at rank #4,094, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.lɛ\.

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 48802, this pair ranks #175,926 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of réduis vs relais

Shared letters: irs. Private to "réduis": dué. Private to "relais": ael.

"réduis" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "relais" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • relaiserlais · realis · relaiss · relasi · relias · rellais · rleais · rrelais

Frequency comparison

réduis#44,708
relais#4,094

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "réduis" and "relais" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "réduis" is a verb and "relais" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "réduis" or "relais"?
"relais" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,094 in our French list, against #44,708 for "réduis". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering réduis vs relais

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “réduis”; for a noun, it's “relais”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “réduis” 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