RehevsrufeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#32,739
“Rehe” frequency rank
#6,967
“rufe” frequency rank
39706
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Rehe rufe
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Reh 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs rufen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Rehe and rufe apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
Rehe
4 ch
rufe

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Rehe is [ˈʁeːə] while rufe is [ˈʁuːfə]. 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 39706, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Rehe is recorded at frequency rank #32,739, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁeːə]. rufe is at rank #6,967, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁuːfə].

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 39706, this pair ranks #1,529,238 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Rehe vs rufe

Shared letters: er. Private to "Rehe": h. Private to "rufe": fu.

"Rehe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "rufe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Rehereeh · rehhe · rhee · rrehe
  • ruferfue · rrufe · ruef · ruffe · urfe

Frequency comparison

Rehe#32,739
rufe#6,967

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Rehe" and "rufe" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Rehe" is a noun and "rufe" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Rehe" or "rufe"?
"rufe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,967 in our German list, against #32,739 for "Rehe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Rehe vs rufe

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Rehe”; for a verb, it's “rufe”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Rehe” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list