Rad vs ri, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“Rad” is a noun and “ri” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#35,306
“Rad” frequency rank: #7,570
“ri” frequency rank: 42876
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Rad	ri
Definition	roda	para, contra

Letter map: Rad vs ri

Shared letters muted; letters that set Rad and ri apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch

Rad

2 ch

Grammar separator: Rad vs ri

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Rad is anoun and riapreposition. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42876, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Rad is recorded at frequency rank #35,306, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈraːt/. ri is at rank #7,570, tagged as aprep.

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 42876, this pair ranks #22,836 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Rad vs ri

Shared letters: r. Private to "Rad": ad. Private to "ri": i.

"Rad" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "ri" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Rad" for "ri" ever safe?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Rad" is a noun and "ri" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Frequency check: "Rad" vs "ri" - which ranks higher?

"ri" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,570 in our Portuguese list, against #35,306 for "Rad". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've compared "Rad" and "ri". Here's where to go from here.

Full dictionary entry for "Rad" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "ri" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #22,836 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"Rad" and "ri" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rabi vs Rad". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #22,836 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.