raubenvsraunenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#16,523
“rauben” frequency rank
#49,191
“raunen” frequency rank
65714
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rauben raunen
Definition sich etwas unrechtmäßig und gewaltsam aneignen mit gedämpfter Stimme sprechen

Where the eye mixes rauben and raunen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. rauben and raunen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
rauben
6 ch
raunen

Visual trap between rauben and raunen

A purely visual mix-up. rauben ([ˈʁaʊ̯bn̩]) and raunen ([ˈʁaʊ̯nən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - b in “rauben” becomes n in “raunen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65714, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rauben is recorded at frequency rank #16,523, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁaʊ̯bn̩]. raunen is at rank #49,191, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁaʊ̯nən].

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 65714, this pair ranks #597,562 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of rauben vs raunen

Shared letters: aenru. Private to "rauben": b. Private to "raunen": -.

"rauben" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "raunen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rauben ← aruben · rabuen · raubben · raubenn · raubne · rauebn · rrauben · ruaben
  • raunen ← arunen · ranuen · raunenn · raunne · raunnen · rraunen · ruanen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "rauben" and "raunen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁaʊ̯bn̩] versus [ˈʁaʊ̯nən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "rauben" or "raunen"?
"rauben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,523 in our German list, against #49,191 for "raunen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "rauben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "raunen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #597,562 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rauben" and "raunen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ramen 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 #597,562 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