Which to use
“Rauch” is a noun and “rauchte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,110
- “Rauch” frequency rank
- #42,072
- “rauchte” frequency rank
- 47182
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Rauch | rauchte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | durch thermische Verbrennung entstehende Gase, Dämpfe und Partikel (als Schwebeteilchen in der Luft) | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs rauchen |
Where the eye mixes Rauch and rauchte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Rauch runs 5 letters (CVVCC) against rauchte's 7 (CVVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Rauch and rauchte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Rauch is [ʁaʊ̯x] while rauchte is [ˈʁaʊ̯xtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Rauch” sits inside “rauchte”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47182, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Rauch is recorded at frequency rank #5,110, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʁaʊ̯x]. rauchte is at rank #42,072, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁaʊ̯xtə].
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 47182, this pair ranks #1,293,413 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Rauch vs rauchte
Shared letters: achru. Private to "Rauch": -. Private to "rauchte": et.
"Rauch" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "rauchte" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Rauch" for "rauchte" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Rauch" or "rauchte"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Rauch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rauchte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,293,413 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Rauch" and "rauchte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rauchst vs rauchte". 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 #1,293,413 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.