Which to use
“rauer” is an adjective and “Raupen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,353
- “rauer” frequency rank
- #23,280
- “Raupen” frequency rank
- 61633
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rauer | Raupen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs rau | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Raupe |
Where the eye mixes rauer and Raupen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. rauer runs 5 letters (CVVVC) against Raupen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses rauer with Raupen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rauer is [ˈʁaʊ̯ɐ] while Raupen is [ˈʁaʊ̯pn̩]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61633, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rauer is recorded at frequency rank #38,353, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁaʊ̯ɐ]. Raupen is at rank #23,280, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁaʊ̯pn̩].
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 61633, this pair ranks #742,426 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of rauer vs Raupen
Shared letters: aeru. Private to "rauer": -. Private to "Raupen": np.
"rauer" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "Raupen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "rauer" and "Raupen" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "rauer" or "Raupen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "rauer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Raupen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #742,426 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rauer" and "Raupen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rauer 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 #742,426 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.