recordvsReformWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#22,477
“record” frequency rank
#4,227
“Reform” frequency rank
26704
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature record Reform
Definition die Tonaufnahme, Aufnahme, Aufzeichnung sukzessive, planmäßige und gewaltlose Umgestaltung und Verbesserung bestehender Verhältnisse

Where the eye mixes record and Reform

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
record
6 ch
Reform

Why the eye confuses record with Reform

A purely visual mix-up. record ([ˈɹɛkɔːd]) and Reform ([ʁeˈfɔʁm]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26704, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

record is recorded at frequency rank #22,477, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɹɛkɔːd]. Reform is at rank #4,227, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʁeˈfɔʁm].

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 26704, this pair ranks #1,813,793 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of record vs Reform

Shared letters: eor. Private to "record": cd. Private to "Reform": fm.

"record" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "Reform" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recordercord · rceord · reccord · recodr · recordd · recorrd · recrod · reocrd
  • Reformerform · refform · refomr · reformm · reforrm · refrom · reofrm · rfeorm

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "record" for "Reform" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɹɛkɔːd] versus [ʁeˈfɔʁm]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "record" vs "Reform" - which ranks higher?
"Reform" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,227 in our German list, against #22,477 for "record". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "record" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Reform" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,813,793 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "record" and "Reform" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "record vs Resort". 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 #1,813,793 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