ratetvsrauerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ratet is a verb, rauer is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ratet” is a verb and “rauer” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#33,249
“ratet” frequency rank
#38,353
“rauer” frequency rank
71602
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ratet rauer
Definition 2. Person Plural Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs raten Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs rau

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ratet and rauer apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
ratet
5 ch
rauer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ratet is [ˈʁaːtət] while rauer is [ˈʁaʊ̯ɐ]. 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 71602, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ratet is recorded at frequency rank #33,249, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁaːtət]. rauer is at rank #38,353, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁaʊ̯ɐ].

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 71602, this pair ranks #412,115 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ratet vs rauer

Shared letters: aer. Private to "ratet": t. Private to "rauer": u.

"ratet" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "rauer" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ratetartet · raett · ratett · rattet · rratet · rtaet
  • raueraruer · raeur · rauerr · raure · rrauer · ruaer

Frequency comparison

ratet#33,249
rauer#38,353

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ratet" and "rauer" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ratet" is a verb and "rauer" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ratet" or "rauer"?
"ratet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,249 in our German list, against #38,353 for "rauer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ratet vs rauer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “ratet”; for an adjective, it's “rauer”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ratet” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list