RattenvsRäumenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#10,347
“Ratten” frequency rank
#3,990
“Räumen” frequency rank
14337
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ratten Räumen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ratte Dativ Plural des Substantivs Raum

Where the eye mixes Ratten and Räumen

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

6 ch
Ratten
6 ch
Räumen

Look-alike desk: Ratten vs Räumen

A purely visual mix-up. Ratten ([ˈʁatn̩]) and Räumen ([ˈʁɔɪ̯mən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14337, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ratten is recorded at frequency rank #10,347, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁatn̩]. Räumen is at rank #3,990, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁɔɪ̯mən].

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 14337, this pair ranks #1,951,896 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ratten vs Räumen

Shared letters: enr. Private to "Ratten": at. Private to "Räumen": muä.

"Ratten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Räumen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Rattenratetn · rattenn · rattne · rratten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Ratten" for "Räumen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁatn̩] versus [ˈʁɔɪ̯mən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Ratten" or "Räumen" show up more?
"Räumen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,990 in our German list, against #10,347 for "Ratten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ratten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Räumen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,951,896 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ratten" and "Räumen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ratten 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 #1,951,896 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