ratetvsrottConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#33,249
“ratet” frequency rank
#30,266
“rott” frequency rank
63515
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ratet rott
Definition 2. Person Plural Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs raten im Verfall/in Zersetzung begriffen

Where the eye mixes ratet and rott

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
ratet
4 ch
rott

Look-alike desk: ratet vs rott

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ratet is [ˈʁaːtət] while rott is [ʁɔt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63515, 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]. rott is at rank #30,266, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʁɔt].

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 63515, this pair ranks #674,084 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ratet vs rott

Shared letters: rt. Private to "ratet": ae. Private to "rott": o.

"ratet" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "rott" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ratetartet · raett · ratett · rattet · rratet · rtaet
  • rottortt · rrott · rtot

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ratet" for "rott" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ratet" is a verb and "rott" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "ratet" vs "rott" - which ranks higher?
"rott" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,266 in our German list, against #33,249 for "ratet". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ratet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rott" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #674,084 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ratet" and "rott" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ramen vs ratet". 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 #674,084 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