RadesvsRatsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#49,184
“Rades” frequency rank
#22,474
“Rats” frequency rank
71658
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Rades Rats
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Rad Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Rat

Where the eye mixes Rades and Rats

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Rades runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against Rats's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Rades
4 ch
Rats

Visual trap between Rades and Rats

A purely visual mix-up. Rades ([ˈʁaːdəs]) and Rats ([ʁaːt͡s]) 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 71658, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Rades is recorded at frequency rank #49,184, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁaːdəs]. Rats is at rank #22,474, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʁaːt͡s].

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 71658, this pair ranks #410,576 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Rades vs Rats

Shared letters: ars. Private to "Rades": de. Private to "Rats": t.

"Rades" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Rats" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Rades ← ardes · raddes · radess · radse · raeds · rdaes · rrades
  • Rats ← ratss · ratts · rrats · rtas

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Rades" and "Rats" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁaːdəs] versus [ʁaːt͡s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Rades" vs "Rats" - which ranks higher?
"Rats" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,474 in our German list, against #49,184 for "Rades". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Rades" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Rats" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #410,576 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Rades" and "Rats" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Rades vs Ramen". 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 #410,576 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