Which to use
“rau” is an adjective and “räumt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,465
- “rau” frequency rank
- #9,971
- “räumt” frequency rank
- 23436
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rau | räumt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht glatt, mit unebener, unbearbeiteter Oberfläche, Beschaffenheit | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs räumen |
Where the eye mixes rau and räumt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. rau runs 3 letters (CVV) against räumt's 5 (CVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between rau and räumt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rau is [ʁaʊ̯] while räumt is [ʁɔɪ̯mt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23436, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rau is recorded at frequency rank #13,465, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʁaʊ̯]. räumt is at rank #9,971, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʁɔɪ̯mt].
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 23436, this pair ranks #1,861,328 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of rau vs räumt
Shared letters: ru. Private to "rau": a. Private to "räumt": mtä.
"rau" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "räumt" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "rau" for "räumt" ever safe?
Which is more common, "rau" or "räumt"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "rau" and "räumt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "rau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "räumt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,861,328 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rau" and "räumt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rau vs RUB". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,861,328 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.