RastervsRatteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#25,276
“Raster” frequency rank
#16,809
“Ratte” frequency rank
42085
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Raster Ratte
Definition technische Einrichtung zum Druck von Halbtonbildern, zum Beispiel eine Glasplatte mit eingeätztem Netz aus Linien, mit deren Hilfe man ein Bild in einzelne Punkte zerlegen kann mausähnliches Nagetier

Where the eye mixes Raster and Ratte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Raster
5 ch
Ratte

Visual trap between Raster and Ratte

A purely visual mix-up. Raster ([ˈʁastɐ]) and Ratte ([ˈʁatə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42085, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Raster is recorded at frequency rank #25,276, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁastɐ]. Ratte is at rank #16,809, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁatə].

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 42085, this pair ranks #1,459,997 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Raster vs Ratte

Shared letters: aert. Private to "Raster": s. Private to "Ratte": -.

"Raster" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Ratte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Rasterarster · rasetr · rasster · rasterr · rastre · rastter · ratser · rraster
  • Ratterratte · rtate

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Raster" and "Ratte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁastɐ] versus [ˈʁatə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Raster" or "Ratte"?
"Ratte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,809 in our German list, against #25,276 for "Raster". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Raster" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ratte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,459,997 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Raster" and "Ratte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ragte vs Raster". 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 #1,459,997 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