ranntenvsrastenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#32,227
“rannten” frequency rank
#26,580
“rasten” frequency rank
58807
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rannten rasten
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum des Verbs rennen sich ausruhen, (bei körperlicher Anstrengung) eine Pause einlegen

Where the eye mixes rannten and rasten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. rannten runs 7 letters (CVCCCVC) against rasten's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
rannten
6 ch
rasten

Why the eye confuses rannten with rasten

A purely visual mix-up. rannten ([ˈʁantn̩]) and rasten ([ˈʁastn̩]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58807, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rannten is recorded at frequency rank #32,227, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁantn̩]. rasten is at rank #26,580, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁastn̩].

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 58807, this pair ranks #848,572 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of rannten vs rasten

Shared letters: aenrt. Private to "rannten": -. Private to "rasten": s.

"rannten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "rasten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ranntenarnnten · rannetn · ranntenn · ranntne · ranntten · ranten · rantnen · rnanten
  • rastenarsten · rasetn · rassten · rastenn · rastne · rastten · ratsen · rrasten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "rannten" and "rasten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁantn̩] versus [ˈʁastn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "rannten" or "rasten"?
"rasten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,580 in our German list, against #32,227 for "rannten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "rannten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rasten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #848,572 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rannten" and "rasten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rannten 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 #848,572 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