Which to use
“race” and “reach” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,135
- “race” frequency rank
- #28,744
- “reach” frequency rank
- 40879
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | race | reach |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | raça | alcance |
Where the eye mixes race and reach
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. race runs 4 letters (CVCV) against reach's 5 (CVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses race with reach
A purely visual mix-up. race (/ɹeɪs/) and reach (/ɹiːt͡ʃ/) 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 40879, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
race is recorded at frequency rank #12,135, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹeɪs/. reach is at rank #28,744, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹiːt͡ʃ/.
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 40879, this pair ranks #25,151 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of race vs reach
Shared letters: acer. Private to "race": -. Private to "reach": h.
"race" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "reach" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "race" for "reach" ever safe?
Which is more common, "race" or "reach"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "race" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "reach" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #25,151 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "race" and "reach" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rabi vs race". 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 #25,151 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.