RäubervsrauenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Räuber is a noun, rauen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Räuber” is a noun and “rauen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,934
“Räuber” frequency rank
#27,017
“rauen” frequency rank
35951
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Räuber rauen
Definition Person, die einer anderen Person rechtswidrig und unter Androhung oder auch Anwendung von Gewalt etwas wegnimmt eine (glatte) Oberfläche rau machen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Räuber and rauen apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Räuber
5 ch
rauen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Räuber is [ˈʁɔɪ̯bɐ] while rauen is [ˈʁaʊ̯ən]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35951, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Räuber is recorded at frequency rank #8,934, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁɔɪ̯bɐ]. rauen is at rank #27,017, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁaʊ̯ən].

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 35951, this pair ranks #1,627,579 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Räuber vs rauen

Shared letters: eru. Private to "Räuber": . Private to "rauen": an.

"Räuber" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "rauen" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rauenaruen · raeun · rauenn · raune · rrauen · ruaen

Frequency comparison

Räuber#8,934
rauen#27,017

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Räuber" and "rauen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Räuber" is a noun and "rauen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Räuber" or "rauen"?
"Räuber" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,934 in our German list, against #27,017 for "rauen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Räuber vs rauen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Räuber”; for a verb, it's “rauen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Räuber” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list