ranntenvsrinnenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#32,227
“rannten” frequency rank
#46,945
“rinnen” frequency rank
79172
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rannten rinnen
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum des Verbs rennen langsam und in geringer Menge fließen

Where the eye mixes rannten and rinnen

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

7 ch
rannten
6 ch
rinnen

Why the eye confuses rannten with rinnen

A purely visual mix-up. rannten ([ˈʁantn̩]) and rinnen ([ˈʁɪnən]) 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 79172, 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]. rinnen is at rank #46,945, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁɪnən].

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 79172, this pair ranks #222,287 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of rannten vs rinnen

Shared letters: enr. Private to "rannten": at. Private to "rinnen": i.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rannten ← arnnten · rannetn · ranntenn · ranntne · ranntten · ranten · rantnen · rnanten
  • rinnen ← irnnen · rinenn · rinnenn · rinnne · rninen · rrinnen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rannten" and "rinnen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁantn̩] versus [ˈʁɪnən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "rannten" or "rinnen"?
"rannten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,227 in our German list, against #46,945 for "rinnen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "rannten" and "rinnen" 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 "rinnen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #222,287 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rannten" and "rinnen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "raunen vs rinnen". 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 #222,287 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