ragvsragteWhat'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 eye mixes rag and ragte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. rag runs 3 letters (CVC) against ragte's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
rag
5 ch
ragte

Why the eye confuses rag with ragte

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "rag" and "ragte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
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.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "rag" and "ragte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "rag" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ragte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #131,391 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rag" and "ragte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "RAe vs ragte". 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 #131,391 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