rodenvsrufenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#34,337
“roden” frequency rank
#2,512
“rufen” frequency rank
36849
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature roden rufen
Definition einen Wald durch Fällen der Bäume und Ausgraben der Wurzeln urbar machen mit einem Ruf jemanden auffordern, etwas zu tun (zum Beispiel zu kommen oder zu antworten)

Where the eye mixes roden and rufen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
roden
5 ch
rufen

Visual trap between roden and rufen

A purely visual mix-up. roden ([ˈʁoːdn̩]) and rufen ([ˈʁuːfn̩]) 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 36849, 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]. rufen is at rank #2,512, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁuːfn̩].

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 36849, this pair ranks #1,605,169 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of roden vs rufen

Shared letters: enr. Private to "roden": do. Private to "rufen": fu.

"roden" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "rufen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rodenrdoen · rodden · rodenn · rodne · roedn · rroden
  • rufenrfuen · rrufen · ruefn · rufenn · ruffen · rufne · urfen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "roden" and "rufen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁoːdn̩] versus [ˈʁuːfn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "roden" vs "rufen" - which ranks higher?
"rufen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,512 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.

Useful next steps

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 "rufen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,605,169 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "roden" and "rufen" 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 #1,605,169 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