Which to use
“rule” and “run” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,521
- “rule” frequency rank
- #9,908
- “run” frequency rank
- 49429
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rule | run |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Règle (ordre). | Nom de l’étendue de pâturages, en Australie, accordée aux propriétaires de troupeaux de moutons. |
Where the eye mixes rule and run
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses rule with run
A purely visual mix-up. rule (\ɹuːl\) and run (\ʁœn\) 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 49429, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rule is recorded at frequency rank #39,521, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɹuːl\. 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 49429, this pair ranks #170,756 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of rule vs run
Shared letters: ru. Private to "rule": el. Private to "run": n.
"rule" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "run" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- rule ← rlue · rrule · ruel · rulle · urle
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "rule" and "run" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "rule" or "run" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "rule" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "run" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #170,756 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rule" and "run" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "râles vs rule". 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 #170,756 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.