Which to use
“reins” and “requins” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,059
- “reins” frequency rank
- #11,473
- “requins” frequency rank
- 21532
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reins | requins |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de rein. | Pluriel de requin. |
Where the eye mixes reins and requins
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. reins runs 5 letters (CVVCC) against requins's 7 (CVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between reins and requins
A purely visual mix-up. reins (\ʁɛ̃\) and requins (\ʁə.kɛ̃\) 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 21532, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reins is recorded at frequency rank #10,059, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁɛ̃\. requins is at rank #11,473, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.kɛ̃\.
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 21532, this pair ranks #362,687 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of reins vs requins
Shared letters: einrs. Private to "reins": -. Private to "requins": qu.
"reins" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "requins" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "reins" and "requins" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "reins" vs "requins" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "reins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "requins" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #362,687 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reins" and "requins" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reins vs Reis". 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 #362,687 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.