redenvsredestConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#640
“reden” frequency rank
#8,125
“redest” frequency rank
8765
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reden redest
Definition etwas sagen, Sprache von sich geben 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs reden

Where the eye mixes reden and redest

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

5 ch
reden
6 ch
redest

Why the eye confuses reden with redest

A purely visual mix-up. reden ([ˈʁeːdn̩]) and redest ([ˈʁeːdəst]) 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 8765, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reden is recorded at frequency rank #640, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁeːdn̩]. redest is at rank #8,125, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁeːdəst].

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 8765, this pair ranks #1,982,944 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of reden vs redest

Shared letters: der. Private to "reden": n. Private to "redest": st.

"reden" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "redest" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • redenrdeen · redden · redenn · redne · reedn · rreden
  • redesterdest · rdeest · reddest · redesst · redestt · redets · redset · reedst

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "reden" and "redest" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁeːdn̩] versus [ˈʁeːdəst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "reden" or "redest" show up more?
"reden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #640 in our German list, against #8,125 for "redest". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "reden" and "redest" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "reden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "redest" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,982,944 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "reden" and "redest" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Rades vs redest". 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 #1,982,944 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