rodenvsrollenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#34,337
“roden” frequency rank
#2,610
“rollen” frequency rank
36947
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature roden rollen
Definition einen Wald durch Fällen der Bäume und Ausgraben der Wurzeln urbar machen während einer Vor- oder Rückwärtsbewegung sich selbst um die eigene Achse drehen; die Bewegung eines Rades

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set roden and rollen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
roden
6 ch
rollen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. roden ([ˈʁoːdn̩]) and rollen ([ˈʁɔlən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36947, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

roden is recorded at frequency rank #34,337, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁoːdn̩]. rollen is at rank #2,610, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁɔlən].

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 36947, this pair ranks #1,602,630 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of roden vs rollen

Shared letters: enor. Private to "roden": d. Private to "rollen": l.

"roden" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "rollen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rodenrdoen · rodden · rodenn · rodne · roedn · rroden
  • rollenorllen · rlolen · roleln · rolen · rollenn · rollne · rrollen

Frequency comparison

roden#34,337
rollen#2,610

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "roden" and "rollen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁoːdn̩] versus [ˈʁɔlən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "roden" or "rollen"?
"rollen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,610 in our German list, against #34,337 for "roden". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering roden vs rollen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “roden” 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