rodenvsrudernTell them apart

Which to use

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

#34,337
“roden” frequency rank
#20,719
“rudern” frequency rank
55056
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature roden rudern
Definition einen Wald durch Fällen der Bäume und Ausgraben der Wurzeln urbar machen sich unter Zuhilfenahme von Riemen oder Skulls in einem Ruderboot fortbewegen

Where the eye mixes roden and rudern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. roden runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against rudern's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
roden
6 ch
rudern

Look-alike desk: roden vs rudern

A purely visual mix-up. roden ([ˈʁoːdn̩]) and rudern ([ˈʁuːdɐn]) 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 55056, 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]. rudern is at rank #20,719, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁuːdɐn].

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 55056, this pair ranks #994,478 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of roden vs rudern

Shared letters: denr. Private to "roden": o. Private to "rudern": u.

"roden" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "rudern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • roden ← rdoen · rodden · rodenn · rodne · roedn · rroden
  • rudern ← rduern · rrudern · ruddern · rudenr · rudernn · ruderrn · rudren · ruedrn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "roden" for "rudern" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁoːdn̩] versus [ˈʁuːdɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "roden" or "rudern"?
"rudern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,719 in our German list, against #34,337 for "roden". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "roden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rudern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #994,478 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "roden" and "rudern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ramen vs roden". 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 #994,478 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