Which to use
“ran” is an adverb and “raven” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,914
- “ran” frequency rank
- #23,674
- “raven” frequency rank
- 27588
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ran | raven |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in die Richtung zu einem Objekt und dabei auch zum Sprecher hin; auf den Sprechenden zu; in die Nähe einer Sache oder des Sprechers | an einer (oftmals einmaligen) Party mit DJ, einer Tanzveranstaltung mit Technomusik, einem Rave teilnehmen |
Where the eye mixes ran and raven
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ran and raven
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ran is [ʁan] while raven is [ˈʁɛɪ̯vn̩]. 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 (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27588, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ran is recorded at frequency rank #3,914, classified as anadv, pronounced [ʁan]. raven is at rank #23,674, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁɛɪ̯vn̩].
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 27588, this pair ranks #1,799,298 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ran vs raven
Shared letters: anr. Private to "ran": -. Private to "raven": ev.
"ran" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "raven" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- raven ← arven · raevn · ravenn · ravne · ravven · rraven · rvaen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ran" for "raven" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "ran" or "raven" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "ran" and "raven" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ran" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "raven" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,799,298 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ran" and "raven" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "raunen vs raven". 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 #1,799,298 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.