RegenvsReueWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,987
“Regen” frequency rank
#14,910
“Reue” frequency rank
16897
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Regen Reue
Definition kondensierter Wasserdampf, der als Wassertropfen zu Boden fällt; Süßwasser Bedauern über die eigene Tat, Selbstschuldbewusstsein

Where the eye mixes Regen and Reue

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

5 ch
Regen
4 ch
Reue

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Regen ([ˈʁeːɡn̩]) and Reue ([ˈʁɔɪ̯ə]) 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 16897, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Regen is recorded at frequency rank #1,987, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁeːɡn̩]. Reue is at rank #14,910, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁɔɪ̯ə].

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 16897, this pair ranks #1,932,087 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Regen vs Reue

Shared letters: er. Private to "Regen": gn. Private to "Reue": u.

"Regen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Reue" · 4 letters · shape CVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Regenergen · reegn · regenn · reggen · regne · rgeen · rregen
  • Reuereeu · rreue · ruee

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Regen" and "Reue" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁeːɡn̩] versus [ˈʁɔɪ̯ə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Regen" or "Reue"?
"Regen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,987 in our German list, against #14,910 for "Reue". 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 "Regen" and "Reue". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Regen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Reue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,932,087 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Regen" and "Reue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Reue 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