RaumvsrayWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#675
“Raum” frequency rank
#4,925
“ray” frequency rank
5600
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Raum ray
Definition sich in drei Dimensionen erstreckende geometrische Größe Strahl, der von einer Energiequelle ausgeht

Where the eye mixes Raum and ray

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Raum
3 ch
ray

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Raum ([ʁaʊ̯m]) and ray ([ɹeɪ]) 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 5600, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Raum is recorded at frequency rank #675, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʁaʊ̯m]. ray is at rank #4,925, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɹeɪ].

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 5600, this pair ranks #1,994,264 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Raum vs ray

Shared letters: ar. Private to "Raum": mu. Private to "ray": y.

"Raum" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "ray" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Raumarum · ramu · raumm · rraum · ruam

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Raum" and "ray" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ʁaʊ̯m] versus [ɹeɪ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Raum" or "ray"?
"Raum" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #675 in our German list, against #4,925 for "ray". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "Raum" and "ray". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Raum" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ray" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,994,264 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Raum" and "ray" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ray vs RUB". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list