rag vs ragte, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#37,740
“rag” frequency rank: #46,219
“ragte” frequency rank: 83959
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	rag	ragte
Definition	2. Person Singular Präsens Imperativ Aktiv des Verbs ragen	1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs ragen

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch

rag

5 ch

ragte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. rag ([ʁaːk]) and ragte ([ˈʁaːktə]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “rag” sits inside “ragte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83959, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rag is recorded at frequency rank #37,740, classified as averb, pronounced [ʁaːk]. ragte is at rank #46,219, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁaːktə].

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 83959, this pair ranks #131,391 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of rag vs ragte

Shared letters: agr. Private to "rag": -. Private to "ragte": et.

"rag" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "ragte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

ragte ← argte · raget · raggte · ragtte · ratge · rgate · rragte

Frequency comparison

rag#37,740

ragte#46,219

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rag" and "ragte" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently ([ʁaːk] versus [ˈʁaːktə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "rag" or "ragte"?

"rag" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,740 in our German list, against #46,219 for "ragte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering rag vs ragte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “rag” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable