raffvsrausWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: raff is a verb, raus is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“raff” is a verb and “raus” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#41,412
“raff” frequency rank
#557
“raus” frequency rank
41969
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature raff raus
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs raffen schnell gesprochenes, in flüssiger Rede und umgangssprachlich und in vielen Dialekten auftauchendes heraus oder hinaus

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set raff and raus apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
raff
4 ch
raus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: raff is [ʁaf] while raus is [ʁaʊ̯s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41969, 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]. raus is at rank #557, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ʁaʊ̯s].

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 41969, this pair ranks #1,463,572 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of raff vs raus

Shared letters: ar. Private to "raff": f. Private to "raus": su.

"raff" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "raus" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • raffarff · rfaf · rraff
  • rausarus · rasu · rauss · rraus · ruas

Frequency comparison

raff#41,412
raus#557

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "raff" and "raus" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "raff" is a verb and "raus" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "raff" or "raus"?
"raus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #557 in our German list, against #41,412 for "raff". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering raff vs raus

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “raff”; for an adverb, it's “raus”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “raff” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list