rapsvsraueConfusable pair

Quick tell: raps is a verb, raue is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“raps” is a verb and “raue” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,016
“raps” frequency rank
#24,891
“raue” frequency rank
51907
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature raps raue
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs rap Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs rau

Letter map: raps vs raue

Shared letters muted; letters that set raps and raue apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. raps (CVCC) and raue (CVVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
raps
4 ch
raue

Grammar separator: raps vs raue

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: raps is averb and raueanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51907, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

raps is recorded at frequency rank #27,016, classified as averb, pronounced […]. raue is at rank #24,891, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁaʊ̯ə].

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 51907, this pair ranks #1,117,454 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of raps vs raue

Shared letters: ar. Private to "raps": ps. Private to "raue": eu.

"raps" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "raue" · 4 letters · shape CVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rapsarps · rapps · rapss · rasp · rpas · rraps
  • rauearue · raeu · rraue · ruae

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "raps" for "raue" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "raps" is a verb and "raue" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "raps" or "raue"?
"raue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,891 in our German list, against #27,016 for "raps". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "raps" vs "raue" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "raps" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "raue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,117,454 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "raps" and "raue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs raps". 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 #1,117,454 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