ré vs run, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#9,922
“ré” frequency rank: #8,681
“run” frequency rank: 18603
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ré	run
Definition	segunda nota musical da escala de dó maior	correr

Where the eye mixes ré and run

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

2 ch

ré

3 ch

run

Visual trap between ré and run

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ré is /ˈRɛ/ while run is /ˈɹʌn/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18603, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ré is recorded at frequency rank #9,922, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈRɛ/. run is at rank #8,681, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈɹʌn/.

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 18603, this pair ranks #52,346 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ré vs run

Shared letters: r. Private to "ré": é. Private to "run": nu.

"ré" · 2 letters · shape CV · "run" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ré" for "run" ever safe?

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

Frequency check: "ré" vs "run" - which ranks higher?

"run" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,681 in our Portuguese list, against #9,922 for "ré". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

Full dictionary entry for "ré" 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 #52,346 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"ré" and "run" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "run vs rust". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #52,346 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.