riesvsrizWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#37,530
“ries” frequency rank
#4,181
“riz” frequency rank
41711
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ries riz
Definition Deuxième 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: ries vs riz

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 2 letters.

4 ch
ries
3 ch
riz

Same sound, different spelling - ries / riz

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: ries 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41711, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ries is recorded at frequency rank #37,530, 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 41711, this pair ranks #231,070 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ries vs riz

Shared letters: ir. Private to "ries": es. Private to "riz": z.

"ries" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "riz" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • riesires · riess

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ries" and "riz" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ries" is a verb and "riz" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "ries" vs "riz" - which ranks higher?
"riz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,181 in our French list, against #37,530 for "ries". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've separated the homophone pair "ries" / "riz". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ries" 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 #231,070 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ries" and "riz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Rhys vs ries". 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 #231,070 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list