rasvsraserTell them apart

Which to use

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

#33,774
“ras” frequency rank
#23,279
“raser” frequency rank
57053
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ras raser
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs rasen barbieren, rasieren

Where the eye mixes ras and raser

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. ras runs 3 letters (CVC) against raser's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
ras
5 ch
raser

Visual trap between ras and raser

A purely visual mix-up. ras ([ʁaːs]) and raser ([ʁa.ze]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “ras” sits inside “raser”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57053, 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]. raser is at rank #23,279, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʁa.ze].

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 57053, this pair ranks #916,383 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ras vs raser

Shared letters: ars. Private to "ras": -. Private to "raser": e.

"ras" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "raser" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • raser ← arser · raesr · raserr · rasre · rasser · rraser · rsaer

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ras" for "raser" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʁaːs] versus [ʁa.ze]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ras" or "raser"?
"raser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,279 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.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ras" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "raser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #916,383 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ras" and "raser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ras 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

Confusion rank #916,383 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