Which to use
“raschen” is an adjective and “riechen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,111
- “raschen” frequency rank
- #9,254
- “riechen” frequency rank
- 31365
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | raschen | riechen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs rasch | den Geruch von etwas mit der Nase wahrnehmen |
Where the eye mixes raschen and riechen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. raschen (CVCCCVC) and riechen (CVVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between raschen and riechen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: raschen is [ˈʁaʃn̩] while riechen is [ˈʁiːçn̩]. 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 31365, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
raschen is recorded at frequency rank #22,111, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁaʃn̩]. riechen is at rank #9,254, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁiːçn̩].
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 31365, this pair ranks #1,729,593 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of raschen vs riechen
Shared letters: cehnr. Private to "raschen": as. Private to "riechen": i.
"raschen" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "riechen" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "raschen" for "riechen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "raschen" vs "riechen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "raschen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "riechen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,729,593 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "raschen" and "riechen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "raschen vs Rauscher". 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 #1,729,593 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.