rendvsrunWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#856
“rend” frequency rank
#9,908
“run” frequency rank
10764
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rend run
Definition Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de rendre. Nom de l’étendue de pâturages, en Australie, accordée aux propriétaires de troupeaux de moutons.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set rend and run apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
rend
3 ch
run

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

rend and run form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10764, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rend is recorded at frequency rank #856, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁɑ̃\. run is at rank #9,908, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁœn\.

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 10764, this pair ranks #411,737 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

rend#856
run#9,908

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rend" and "run" be used interchangeably?
No, "rend" and "run" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering rend vs run

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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