radelnvsrauenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#24,469
“radeln” frequency rank
#27,017
“rauen” frequency rank
51486
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature radeln rauen
Definition Fahrrad fahren eine (glatte) Oberfläche rau machen

Where the eye mixes radeln and rauen

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

6 ch
radeln
5 ch
rauen

Visual trap between radeln and rauen

A purely visual mix-up. radeln ([ˈʁaːdl̩n]) and rauen ([ˈʁaʊ̯ən]) 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 51486, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

radeln is recorded at frequency rank #24,469, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁaːdl̩n]. rauen is at rank #27,017, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁaʊ̯ən].

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 51486, this pair ranks #1,133,736 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of radeln vs rauen

Shared letters: aenr. Private to "radeln": dl. Private to "rauen": u.

"radeln" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "rauen" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • radeln ← ardeln · raddeln · radelln · radelnn · radenl · radlen · raedln · rdaeln
  • rauen ← aruen · raeun · rauenn · raune · rrauen · ruaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "radeln" and "rauen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁaːdl̩n] versus [ˈʁaʊ̯ən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "radeln" vs "rauen" - which ranks higher?
"radeln" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,469 in our German list, against #27,017 for "rauen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "radeln" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rauen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,133,736 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "radeln" and "rauen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rauen 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 #1,133,736 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