Which to use
“ragen” is a verb and “ran” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,473
- “ragen” frequency rank
- #3,914
- “ran” frequency rank
- 26387
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ragen | ran |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich durch eine vertikale Aufrichtung von der restlichen Umgebung abheben | in die Richtung zu einem Objekt und dabei auch zum Sprecher hin; auf den Sprechenden zu; in die Nähe einer Sache oder des Sprechers |
Where the eye mixes ragen and ran
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. ragen runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against ran's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between ragen and ran
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ragen is [ˈʁaːɡn̩] while ran is [ʁan]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 26387, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ragen is recorded at frequency rank #22,473, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁaːɡn̩]. ran is at rank #3,914, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ʁan].
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 26387, this pair ranks #1,818,946 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ragen vs ran
Shared letters: anr. Private to "ragen": eg. Private to "ran": -.
"ragen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "ran" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- ragen ← raegn · ragenn · raggen · rgaen · rragen
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ragen" and "ran" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "ragen" or "ran" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ragen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ran" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,818,946 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ragen" and "ran" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ragen vs raunen". 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 #1,818,946 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.