relatervsrelierWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#37,523
“relater” frequency rank
#10,222
“relier” frequency rank
47745
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature relater relier
Definition Rapporter, mentionner, citer. Lier de nouveau, refaire le nœud qui liait et qui est défait.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set relater and relier apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
relater
6 ch
relier

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. relater (\ʁə.la.te\) and relier (\ʁə.lje\) 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 47745, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

relater is recorded at frequency rank #37,523, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.la.te\. relier is at rank #10,222, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.lje\.

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 47745, this pair ranks #184,476 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of relater vs relier

Shared letters: elr. Private to "relater": at. Private to "relier": i.

"relater" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "relier" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • relatererlater · realter · relaetr · relaterr · relatre · relatter · rellater · reltaer
  • reliererlier · reiler · releir · relierr · rellier · rleier · rrelier

Frequency comparison

relater#37,523
relier#10,222

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "relater" and "relier" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁə.la.te\ versus \ʁə.lje\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "relater" or "relier"?
"relier" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,222 in our French list, against #37,523 for "relater". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering relater vs relier

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 “relater” 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