regesvsRügeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: reges is a adjective, Rüge is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“reges” is an adjective and “Rüge” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#36,582
“reges” frequency rank
#35,428
“Rüge” frequency rank
72010
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reges Rüge
Definition Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs rege Ermahnung ohne negative Konsequenzen durch eine vorgesetzte Person oder Institution

Where the eye mixes reges and Rüge

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. reges runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against Rüge's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
reges
4 ch
Rüge

Why the eye confuses reges with Rüge

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reges is [ˈʁeːɡəs] while Rüge is [ˈʁyːɡə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72010, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reges is recorded at frequency rank #36,582, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁeːɡəs]. Rüge is at rank #35,428, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁyːɡə].

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 72010, this pair ranks #400,405 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of reges vs Rüge

Shared letters: egr. Private to "reges": s. Private to "Rüge": ü.

"reges" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Rüge" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reges ← erges · reegs · regess · regges · regse · rgees · rreges

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "reges" and "Rüge" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "reges" is an adjective and "Rüge" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "reges" or "Rüge" show up more?
"Rüge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,428 in our German list, against #36,582 for "reges". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "reges" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Rüge" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #400,405 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "reges" and "Rüge" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reges vs Remus". 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 #400,405 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