RaubvsraysWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#10,348
“Raub” frequency rank
#37,153
“rays” frequency rank
47501
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Raub rays
Definition das gewaltsame Wegnehmen; das Rauben Plural des Substantivs ray

Where the eye mixes Raub and rays

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Raub
4 ch
rays

Look-alike desk: Raub vs rays

A purely visual mix-up. Raub ([ʁaʊ̯p]) and rays ([ɹeɪz]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Raub is recorded at frequency rank #10,348, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʁaʊ̯p]. rays is at rank #37,153, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɹeɪz].

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 47501, this pair ranks #1,282,075 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Raub vs rays

Shared letters: ar. Private to "Raub": bu. Private to "rays": sy.

"Raub" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "rays" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Raubarub · rabu · raubb · rraub · ruab
  • raysarys · rasy · rayss · rayys · rrays · ryas

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Raub" for "rays" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʁaʊ̯p] versus [ɹeɪz]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Raub" or "rays"?
"Raub" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,348 in our German list, against #37,153 for "rays". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Raub" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rays" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,282,075 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Raub" and "rays" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Rades vs rays". 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 #1,282,075 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