Which to use
“rie” is a verb and “riz” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,393
- “rie” frequency rank
- #4,181
- “riz” frequency rank
- 23574
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rie | riz |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de rire. | Dénomination usuelle des plantes du genre Oryza de la famille des Poacées, céréale cultivée dans les terres humides et marécageuses des pays chauds. |
Same sound, different letters: rie vs riz
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 2 letters.
Same sound, different spelling - rie / riz
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: rie and riz carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ʁi\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by a single letter - e in “rie” becomes z in “riz”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23574, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rie is recorded at frequency rank #19,393, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁi\. riz is at rank #4,181, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁi\.
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 23574, this pair ranks #351,707 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of rie vs riz
Shared letters: ir. Private to "rie": e. Private to "riz": z.
"rie" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "riz" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "rie" and "riz" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "rie" or "riz"?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "rie" / "riz". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "rie" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "riz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #351,707 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rie" and "riz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Reis vs rie". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #351,707 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.