rauevsräumteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: raue is a adjective, räumte is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“raue” is an adjective and “räumte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,891
“raue” frequency rank
#21,045
“räumte” frequency rank
45936
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature raue räumte
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs rau 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs räumen

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
raue
6 ch
räumte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: raue is [ˈʁaʊ̯ə] while räumte is [ˈʁɔɪ̯mtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 45936, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

raue is recorded at frequency rank #24,891, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁaʊ̯ə]. räumte is at rank #21,045, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁɔɪ̯mtə].

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 45936, this pair ranks #1,336,121 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of raue vs räumte

Shared letters: eru. Private to "raue": a. Private to "räumte": mtä.

"raue" · 4 letters · shape CVVV  ·  "räumte" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rauearue · raeu · rraue · ruae

Frequency comparison

raue#24,891
räumte#21,045

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "raue" and "räumte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "raue" is an adjective and "räumte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "raue" or "räumte"?
"räumte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,045 in our German list, against #24,891 for "raue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering raue vs räumte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “raue”; for a verb, it's “räumte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “raue” 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