rasvsraschWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#33,774
“ras” frequency rank
#3,916
“rasch” frequency rank
37690
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ras rasch
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs rasen in einem zügigen Tempo, oftmals auch mit einem schnellen Beginn und ohne viel Aufwand zu treiben oder groß nachzudenken, eventuell auch unerwartet und plötzlich

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ras and rasch apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
ras
5 ch
rasch

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ras is [ʁaːs] while rasch is [ʁaʃ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “ras” sits inside “rasch”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37690, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ras is recorded at frequency rank #33,774, classified as averb, pronounced [ʁaːs]. rasch is at rank #3,916, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʁaʃ].

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 37690, this pair ranks #1,583,596 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ras vs rasch

Shared letters: ars. Private to "ras": -. Private to "rasch": ch.

"ras" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "rasch" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • raschracsh · rascch · raschh · rashc · rassch · rrasch · rsach

Frequency comparison

ras#33,774
rasch#3,916

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ras" and "rasch" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ras" is a verb and "rasch" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ras" or "rasch"?
"rasch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,916 in our German list, against #33,774 for "ras". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ras vs rasch

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “ras”; for an adjective, it's “rasch”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ras” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list