Which to use
“rasten” and “rösten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,580
- “rasten” frequency rank
- #45,557
- “rösten” frequency rank
- 72137
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rasten | rösten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich ausruhen, (bei körperlicher Anstrengung) eine Pause einlegen | Flachs oder Hanf zum Gewinnen von Pflanzenfasern mürbe machen |
Where the eye mixes rasten and rösten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. rasten and rösten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses rasten with rösten
A purely visual mix-up. rasten ([ˈʁastn̩]) and rösten ([ˈʁœstn̩]) 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 a single letter - a in “rasten” becomes ö in “rösten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72137, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rasten is recorded at frequency rank #26,580, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁastn̩]. rösten is at rank #45,557, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁœstn̩].
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 72137, this pair ranks #396,763 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of rasten vs rösten
Shared letters: enrst. Private to "rasten": a. Private to "rösten": ö.
"rasten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "rösten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- rasten ← arsten · rasetn · rassten · rastenn · rastne · rastten · ratsen · rrasten
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "rasten" for "rösten" ever safe?
Which is more common, "rasten" or "rösten"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "rasten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rösten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #396,763 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rasten" and "rösten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rollten vs rösten". 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 #396,763 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.