radiosvsratioWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#31,231
“radios” frequency rank
#21,035
“ratio” frequency rank
52266
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature radios ratio
Definition Plural des Substantivs radio Verhältnis zweier Zahlen gleicher Einheit, Quotient. Die beiden Zahlen werden meist durch einen Doppelpunkt getrennt, z. B. 20:1 (gesprochen: zwanzig zu eins; Englisch jedoch durch Bindestrich getrennt)

Where the eye mixes radios and ratio

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

6 ch
radios
5 ch
ratio

Look-alike desk: radios vs ratio

A purely visual mix-up. radios ([reɪdɪəʊs]) and ratio ([ˈɹeɪʃɪəʊ]) 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 52266, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

radios is recorded at frequency rank #31,231, classified as anoun, pronounced [reɪdɪəʊs]. ratio is at rank #21,035, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɹeɪʃɪəʊ].

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 52266, this pair ranks #1,103,529 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of radios vs ratio

Shared letters: aior. Private to "radios": ds. Private to "ratio": t.

"radios" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "ratio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • radios ← ardios · raddios · radioss · radiso · radois · raidos · rdaios · rradios
  • ratio ← artio · raito · ratoi · rattio · rratio · rtaio

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "radios" and "ratio" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([reɪdɪəʊs] versus [ˈɹeɪʃɪəʊ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "radios" or "ratio"?
"ratio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,035 in our German list, against #31,231 for "radios". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "radios" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ratio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,103,529 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "radios" and "ratio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Rades vs radios". 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 #1,103,529 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