Rat vs rate, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“Rat” and “rate” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#37,067
“Rat” frequency rank: #30,321
“rate” frequency rank: 67388
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Rat	rate
Definition	conselho	taxa

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Rat and rate apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

Rat

4 ch

rate

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Rat (/raːt/) and rate (/ɹeɪt/, SAMPA: /r\eIt/) 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 extra letter(s) - “Rat” sits inside “rate”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67388, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Rat is recorded at frequency rank #37,067, classified as anoun, pronounced /raːt/. rate is at rank #30,321, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹeɪt/, SAMPA: /r\eIt/.

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 67388, this pair ranks #4,637 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Rat vs rate

Shared letters: art. Private to "Rat": -. Private to "rate": e.

"Rat" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "rate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

rate ← raet · ratte · rrate · rtae

Frequency comparison

Rat#37,067

rate#30,321

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Rat" and "rate" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/raːt/ versus /ɹeɪt/, SAMPA: /r\eIt/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "Rat" or "rate"?

"rate" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,321 in our Portuguese list, against #37,067 for "Rat". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Rat vs rate

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Rat” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable