RandvsrauWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Rand is a noun, rau is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Rand” is a noun and “rau” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,782
“Rand” frequency rank
#13,465
“rau” frequency rank
16247
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Rand rau
Definition äußere Begrenzung eines Gegenstandes nicht glatt, mit unebener, unbearbeiteter Oberfläche, Beschaffenheit

Where the eye mixes Rand and rau

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Rand
3 ch
rau

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Rand is [ʁant] while rau is [ʁaʊ̯]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16247, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Rand is recorded at frequency rank #2,782, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʁant]. rau is at rank #13,465, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʁaʊ̯].

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 16247, this pair ranks #1,937,397 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Rand vs rau

Shared letters: ar. Private to "Rand": dn. Private to "rau": u.

"Rand" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "rau" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Randradn · randd · rannd · rnad · rrand

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Rand" and "rau" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Rand" is a noun and "rau" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Rand" or "rau"?
"Rand" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,782 in our German list, against #13,465 for "rau". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "Rand" and "rau". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Rand" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,937,397 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Rand" and "rau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rau vs RUB". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list