ras vs red, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#33,774
“ras” frequency rank: #1,935
“red” frequency rank: 35709
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ras	red
Definition	2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs rasen	2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs reden

Where the eye mixes ras and red

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

3 ch

ras

3 ch

red

Look-alike desk: ras vs red

A purely visual mix-up. ras ([ʁaːs]) and red ([ʁeːt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35709, 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]. red is at rank #1,935, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʁeːt].

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 35709, this pair ranks #1,633,464 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ras vs red

Shared letters: r. Private to "ras": as. Private to "red": de.

"ras" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "red" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ras" and "red" mean the same thing in a sentence?

No. They are said differently ([ʁaːs] versus [ʁeːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "ras" or "red"?

"red" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,935 in our German list, against #33,774 for "ras". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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 "red" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #1,633,464 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"ras" and "red" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ras vs RUB". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,633,464 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.