RaabevsRateWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#30,729
“Raabe” frequency rank
#5,411
“Rate” frequency rank
36140
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Raabe Rate
Definition deutschsprachiger Familienname, Nachname in Prozent ausgedrücktes Verhältnis zwischen zwei Größen

Where the eye mixes Raabe and Rate

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Raabe
4 ch
Rate

Why the eye confuses Raabe with Rate

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Raabe is [ˈʁaːbə] while Rate is [ˈʁaːtə]. 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 36140, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Raabe is recorded at frequency rank #30,729, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈʁaːbə]. Rate is at rank #5,411, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁaːtə].

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 36140, this pair ranks #1,622,957 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Raabe vs Rate

Shared letters: aer. Private to "Raabe": b. Private to "Rate": t.

"Raabe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Rate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Raabearabe · raabbe · raaeb · rabae · rraabe
  • Rateraet · rrate · rtae

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Raabe" and "Rate" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Raabe" is a name and "Rate" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Raabe" or "Rate" show up more?
"Rate" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,411 in our German list, against #30,729 for "Raabe". 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 "Raabe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Rate" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,622,957 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Raabe" and "Rate" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Raabe vs Robbe". 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 #1,622,957 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list