réelsvsrepasWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: réels is a adjective, repas is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“réels” is an adjective and “repas” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,918
“réels” frequency rank
#1,934
“repas” frequency rank
7852
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature réels repas
Definition Masculin pluriel de réel. Nourriture que l’on prend pour s’alimenter pendant une période spécifiquement consacrée à cette activité, souvent à des heures régulières de la journée.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
réels
5 ch
repas

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: réels is \ʁe.ɛl\ while repas is \ʁə.pɑ\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7852, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

réels is recorded at frequency rank #5,918, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁe.ɛl\. repas is at rank #1,934, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.pɑ\.

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 7852, this pair ranks #421,943 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of réels vs repas

Shared letters: ers. Private to "réels": . Private to "repas": ap.

"réels" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "repas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • repaserpas · reaps · repass · reppas · repsa · rpeas · rrepas

Frequency comparison

réels#5,918
repas#1,934

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "réels" and "repas" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "réels" is an adjective and "repas" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "réels" or "repas"?
"repas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,934 in our French list, against #5,918 for "réels". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering réels vs repas

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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