reitevsruhteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#37,746
“reite” frequency rank
#36,599
“ruhte” frequency rank
74345
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reite ruhte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs reiten 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs ruhen

Where the eye mixes reite and ruhte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. reite (CVVCV) and ruhte (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
reite
5 ch
ruhte

Look-alike desk: reite vs ruhte

A purely visual mix-up. reite ([ˈʁaɪ̯tə]) and ruhte ([ˈʁuːtə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74345, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reite is recorded at frequency rank #37,746, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯tə]. ruhte is at rank #36,599, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁuːtə].

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 74345, this pair ranks #335,944 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of reite vs ruhte

Shared letters: ert. Private to "reite": i. Private to "ruhte": hu.

"reite" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "ruhte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reite ← erite · reiet · retie · riete · rreite
  • ruhte ← rhute · rruhte · ruhet · ruhhte · ruhtte · ruthe · urhte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "reite" for "ruhte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁaɪ̯tə] versus [ˈʁuːtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "reite" vs "ruhte" - which ranks higher?
"ruhte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,599 in our German list, against #37,746 for "reite". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "reite" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ruhte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #335,944 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "reite" and "ruhte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rühmen vs ruhte". 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 #335,944 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