RaabvsrayWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Raab is a name, ray is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Raab” is a name and “ray” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,153
“Raab” frequency rank
#4,925
“ray” frequency rank
17078
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Raab ray
Definition rechter Zufluss zur Donau in Südostösterreich und Westungarn Strahl, der von einer Energiequelle ausgeht

Where the eye mixes Raab and ray

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Raab
3 ch
ray

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Raab is [ʁaːp] while ray is [ɹeɪ]. 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 (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17078, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Raab is recorded at frequency rank #12,153, classified as aname, pronounced [ʁaːp]. ray is at rank #4,925, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɹeɪ].

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 17078, this pair ranks #1,930,536 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Raab vs ray

Shared letters: ar. Private to "Raab": b. Private to "ray": y.

"Raab" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "ray" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Raabarab · raabb · rab · raba · rraab

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Raab" and "ray" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Raab" is a name and "ray" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Raab" or "ray"?
"ray" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,925 in our German list, against #12,153 for "Raab". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list