RabenvsRankenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Raben” and “Ranken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#22,853
“Raben” frequency rank
#25,723
“Ranken” frequency rank
48576
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Raben Ranken
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Rabe Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ranke

Where the eye mixes Raben and Ranken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Raben runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against Ranken's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Raben
6 ch
Ranken

Visual trap between Raben and Ranken

A purely visual mix-up. Raben ([ˈʁaːbm̩]) and Ranken ([ˈʁaŋkn̩]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48576, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Raben is recorded at frequency rank #22,853, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁaːbm̩]. Ranken is at rank #25,723, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁaŋkn̩].

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 48576, this pair ranks #1,243,377 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Raben vs Ranken

Shared letters: aenr. Private to "Raben": b. Private to "Ranken": k.

"Raben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Ranken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Rabenarben · rabben · rabenn · rabne · raebn · rbaen · rraben
  • Rankenarnken · raknen · ranekn · rankenn · rankken · rankne · rannken · rnaken

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Raben" for "Ranken" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁaːbm̩] versus [ˈʁaŋkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Raben" or "Ranken"?
"Raben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,853 in our German list, against #25,723 for "Ranken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Raben" and "Ranken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Raben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ranken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,243,377 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Raben" and "Ranken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ranken vs raunen". 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 #1,243,377 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