rauenvsraunenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#27,017
“rauen” frequency rank
#49,191
“raunen” frequency rank
76208
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rauen raunen
Definition eine (glatte) Oberfläche rau machen mit gedämpfter Stimme sprechen

Where the eye mixes rauen and raunen

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

5 ch
rauen
6 ch
raunen

Look-alike desk: rauen vs raunen

A purely visual mix-up. rauen ([ˈʁaʊ̯ən]) and raunen ([ˈʁaʊ̯nən]) 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 76208, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rauen is recorded at frequency rank #27,017, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁaʊ̯ən]. raunen is at rank #49,191, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁaʊ̯nən].

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 76208, this pair ranks #289,300 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of rauen vs raunen

Shared letters: aenru. Private to "rauen": -. Private to "raunen": -.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rauen ← aruen · raeun · rauenn · raune · rrauen · ruaen
  • raunen ← arunen · ranuen · raunenn · raunne · raunnen · rraunen · ruanen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "rauen" and "raunen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁaʊ̯ən] versus [ˈʁaʊ̯nən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "rauen" vs "raunen" - which ranks higher?
"rauen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,017 in our German list, against #49,191 for "raunen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "rauen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "raunen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #289,300 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rauen" and "raunen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ramen vs raunen". 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 #289,300 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