RaupevsrueWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,084
“Raupe” frequency rank
#16,534
“rue” frequency rank
40618
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Raupe rue
Definition wurmförmige Larve des Schmetterlings oder der Blattwespe mit beißenden Mundteilen, kurzen bekrallten Brustfüßen und stummelförmigen Afterfüßen Reue

Where the eye mixes Raupe and rue

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Raupe
3 ch
rue

Look-alike desk: Raupe vs rue

A purely visual mix-up. Raupe ([ˈʁaʊ̯pə]) and rue ([ruː]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40618, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Raupe is recorded at frequency rank #24,084, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁaʊ̯pə]. rue is at rank #16,534, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ruː].

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 40618, this pair ranks #1,503,315 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Raupe vs rue

Shared letters: eru. Private to "Raupe": ap. Private to "rue": -.

"Raupe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "rue" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Raupearupe · rapue · rauep · rauppe · rraupe · ruape

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Raupe" and "rue" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁaʊ̯pə] versus [ruː]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Raupe" vs "rue" - which ranks higher?
"rue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,534 in our German list, against #24,084 for "Raupe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Raupe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,503,315 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Raupe" and "rue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "raunen vs Raupe". 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 #1,503,315 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