robvsrobotWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#11,958
“rob” frequency rank
#28,365
“robot” frequency rank
40323
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rob robot
Definition einer Person oder einer Institution (Bank, Laden) unerlaubt und meist gewaltsam Geld oder Eigentum wegnehmen: berauben Roboter

Letter map: rob vs robot

Shared letters muted; letters that set rob and robot apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

3 ch
rob
5 ch
robot

Grammar separator: rob vs robot

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: rob is averb and robotanoun. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “rob” sits inside “robot”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40323, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rob is recorded at frequency rank #11,958, classified as averb, pronounced […]. robot is at rank #28,365, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈrəʊbɒt].

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 40323, this pair ranks #1,511,799 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of rob vs robot

Shared letters: bor. Private to "rob": -. Private to "robot": t.

"rob" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "robot" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • robotorbot · rboot · robbot · robott · robto · roobt · rrobot

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "rob" for "robot" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "rob" is a verb and "robot" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "rob" or "robot" show up more?
"rob" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,958 in our German list, against #28,365 for "robot". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "rob" and "robot".

  • Full dictionary entry for "rob" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "robot" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,511,799 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rob" and "robot" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "robo vs robot". 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 #1,511,799 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