Which to use
“rasche” is an adjective and “rieche” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,155
- “rasche” frequency rank
- #24,097
- “rieche” frequency rank
- 38252
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rasche | rieche |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs rasch | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs riechen |
Where the eye mixes rasche and rieche
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: rasche vs rieche
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rasche is [ˈʁaʃə] while rieche is [ˈʁiːçə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38252, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rasche is recorded at frequency rank #14,155, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁaʃə]. rieche is at rank #24,097, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁiːçə].
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 38252, this pair ranks #1,568,796 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of rasche vs rieche
Shared letters: cehr. Private to "rasche": as. Private to "rieche": i.
"rasche" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "rieche" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "rasche" and "rieche" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "rasche" or "rieche"?
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 "rasche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rieche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,568,796 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rasche" and "rieche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rech vs rieche". 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 #1,568,796 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.