rodenvsrottenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#34,337
“roden” frequency rank
#34,340
“rotten” frequency rank
68677
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature roden rotten
Definition einen Wald durch Fällen der Bäume und Ausgraben der Wurzeln urbar machen faulen, verfallen

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
roden
6 ch
rotten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. roden ([ˈʁoːdn̩]) and rotten ([ˈʁɔtn̩]) 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 68677, 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]. rotten is at rank #34,340, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁɔtn̩].

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 68677, this pair ranks #500,361 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of roden vs rotten

Shared letters: enor. Private to "roden": d. Private to "rotten": t.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rodenrdoen · rodden · rodenn · rodne · roedn · rroden
  • rottenrotetn · rottenn · rottne · rrotten · rtoten

Frequency comparison

roden#34,337
rotten#34,340

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "roden" and "rotten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁoːdn̩] versus [ˈʁɔtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "roden" or "rotten"?
"roden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,337 in our German list, against #34,340 for "rotten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering roden vs rotten

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