rule vs run, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#24,780
“rule” frequency rank: #8,681
“run” frequency rank: 33461
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	rule	run
Definition	ditar regras, fazer regras	correr

Letter map: rule vs run

Shared letters muted; letters that set rule and run apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch

rule

3 ch

run

Pair insight - rule / run

rule and run are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33461, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rule is recorded at frequency rank #24,780, classified as averb. 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 33461, this pair ranks #34,060 of 75,631 scored Portuguese 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?

No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

In ordinary Portuguese text, does "rule" or "run" show up more?

"run" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,681 in our Portuguese list, against #24,780 for "rule". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "rule" and "run".

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 #34,060 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"rule" and "run" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rule vs rust". 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 #34,060 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.