rasvsreWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: ras is a verb, re is a particle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#33,774
“ras” frequency rank
#4,150
“re” frequency rank
37924
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ras re
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs rasen beim Solmisieren oder Solfeggieren benutzte Silbe zum Singen eines bestimmten Tons aus der Tonleiter

Where the eye mixes ras and re

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
ras
2 ch
re

Visual trap between ras and re

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ras is [ʁaːs] while re is [ʁeː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs particle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37924, 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]. re is at rank #4,150, tagged as aparticle, pronounced [ʁeː].

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 37924, this pair ranks #1,577,517 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ras vs re

Shared letters: r. Private to "ras": as. Private to "re": e.

"ras" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "re" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ras" and "re" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ras" is a verb and "re" a particle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "ras" or "re" show up more?
"re" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,150 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.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ras" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "re" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,577,517 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ras" and "re" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ras vs RUB". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,577,517 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