RäubervsRäumeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,934
“Räuber” frequency rank
#3,276
“Räume” frequency rank
12210
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Räuber Räume
Definition Person, die einer anderen Person rechtswidrig und unter Androhung oder auch Anwendung von Gewalt etwas wegnimmt Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Raum

Where the eye mixes Räuber and Räume

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Räuber runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against Räume's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Räuber
5 ch
Räume

Look-alike desk: Räuber vs Räume

A purely visual mix-up. Räuber ([ˈʁɔɪ̯bɐ]) and Räume ([ˈʁɔɪ̯mə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12210, 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]. Räume is at rank #3,276, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁɔɪ̯mə].

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 12210, this pair ranks #1,965,541 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Räuber vs Räume

Shared letters: eruä. Private to "Räuber": b. Private to "Räume": m.

"Räuber" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Räume" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Räuber" for "Räume" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁɔɪ̯bɐ] versus [ˈʁɔɪ̯mə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Räuber" or "Räume" show up more?
"Räume" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,276 in our German list, against #8,934 for "Räuber". 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 "Räuber" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Räume" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,965,541 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Räuber" and "Räume" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Räuber vs raunen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,965,541 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