Which to use
“raten” is a verb and “roter” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,067
- “raten” frequency rank
- #6,846
- “roter” frequency rank
- 10913
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | raten | roter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | einen Rat geben/erteilen, empfehlen | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs rot |
Where the eye mixes raten and roter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. raten and roter follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses raten with roter
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: raten is [ˈʁaːtn̩] while roter is [ˈʁoːtɐ]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10913, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
raten is recorded at frequency rank #4,067, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁaːtn̩]. roter is at rank #6,846, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁoːtɐ].
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 10913, this pair ranks #1,972,659 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of raten vs roter
Shared letters: ert. Private to "raten": an. Private to "roter": o.
"raten" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "roter" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "raten" and "roter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "raten" or "roter"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "raten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "roter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,972,659 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "raten" and "roter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "raten vs raunen". 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 #1,972,659 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.