RehvsrunTell them apart

Quick tell: Reh is a noun, run is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Reh” is a noun and “run” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,374
“Reh” frequency rank
#8,773
“run” frequency rank
27147
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Reh run
Definition im Wald lebender Wiederkäuer aus der Familie der Hirsche oder Cervidae sich schnell zu Fuß bewegen; rennen, eilen

Where the eye mixes Reh and run

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
Reh
3 ch
run

Visual trap between Reh and run

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Reh is [ʁeː] while run is [rʌn]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27147, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Reh is recorded at frequency rank #18,374, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʁeː]. run is at rank #8,773, tagged as averb, pronounced [rʌn].

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 27147, this pair ranks #1,806,562 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Reh vs run

Shared letters: r. Private to "Reh": eh. Private to "run": nu.

"Reh" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "run" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Reh" for "run" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Reh" is a noun and "run" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Reh" or "run" show up more?
"run" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,773 in our German list, against #18,374 for "Reh". 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 "Reh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "run" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,806,562 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Reh" and "run" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Reh vs RUB". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,806,562 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