raffvsragtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,412
“raff” frequency rank
#20,707
“ragt” frequency rank
62119
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature raff ragt
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs raffen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs ragen

Where the eye mixes raff and ragt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. raff and ragt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
raff
4 ch
ragt

Visual trap between raff and ragt

A purely visual mix-up. raff ([ʁaf]) and ragt ([ʁaːkt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62119, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

raff is recorded at frequency rank #41,412, classified as averb, pronounced [ʁaf]. ragt is at rank #20,707, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʁaːkt].

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 62119, this pair ranks #724,492 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of raff vs ragt

Shared letters: ar. Private to "raff": f. Private to "ragt": gt.

"raff" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "ragt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • raff ← arff · rfaf · rraff
  • ragt ← argt · raggt · ragtt · ratg · rgat · rragt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "raff" for "ragt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʁaf] versus [ʁaːkt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "raff" vs "ragt" - which ranks higher?
"ragt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,707 in our German list, against #41,412 for "raff". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "raff" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ragt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #724,492 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "raff" and "ragt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "raff vs rofl". 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 #724,492 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