Which to use
“rauche” is an adjective and “rauchte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,034
- “rauche” frequency rank
- #42,072
- “rauchte” frequency rank
- 60106
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rauche | rauchte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs rauch | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs rauchen |
Where the eye mixes rauche and rauchte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. rauche runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against rauchte's 7 (CVVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: rauche vs rauchte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rauche is [ˈʁaʊ̯xə] while rauchte is [ˈʁaʊ̯xtə]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60106, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rauche is recorded at frequency rank #18,034, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁaʊ̯xə]. 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 60106, this pair ranks #799,353 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of rauche vs rauchte
Shared letters: acehru. Private to "rauche": -. Private to "rauchte": t.
"rauche" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "rauchte" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "rauche" and "rauchte" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "rauche" or "rauchte" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "rauche" 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 #799,353 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rauche" 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 #799,353 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.