Which to use
“raven” is a verb and “river” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,674
- “raven” frequency rank
- #9,616
- “river” frequency rank
- 33290
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | raven | river |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | an einer (oftmals einmaligen) Party mit DJ, einer Tanzveranstaltung mit Technomusik, einem Rave teilnehmen | Fluss |
Where the eye mixes raven and river
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between raven and river
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: raven is [ˈʁɛɪ̯vn̩] while river is [ˈɹɪvə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33290, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
raven is recorded at frequency rank #23,674, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁɛɪ̯vn̩]. river is at rank #9,616, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɹɪvə].
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 33290, this pair ranks #1,689,185 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of raven vs river
Shared letters: erv. Private to "raven": an. Private to "river": i.
"raven" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "river" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "raven" for "river" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "raven" or "river" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "raven" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "river" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,689,185 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "raven" and "river" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "raunen vs raven". 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 #1,689,185 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.