rafftvsraufWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#45,532
“rafft” frequency rank
#10,157
“rauf” frequency rank
55689
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rafft rauf
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs raffen nach oben, hin zum Sprecher

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set rafft and rauf apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
rafft
4 ch
rauf

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rafft is [ʁaft] while rauf is [ʁaʊ̯f]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55689, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rafft is recorded at frequency rank #45,532, classified as averb, pronounced [ʁaft]. rauf is at rank #10,157, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ʁaʊ̯f].

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 55689, this pair ranks #969,731 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of rafft vs rauf

Shared letters: afr. Private to "rafft": t. Private to "rauf": u.

"rafft" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "rauf" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rafftarfft · rafftt · raft · raftf · rfaft · rrafft
  • raufaruf · rafu · rauff · rrauf · ruaf

Frequency comparison

rafft#45,532
rauf#10,157

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rafft" and "rauf" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "rafft" is a verb and "rauf" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "rafft" or "rauf"?
"rauf" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,157 in our German list, against #45,532 for "rafft". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering rafft vs rauf

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “rafft”; for an adverb, it's “rauf”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “rafft” 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