Which to use
“roh” is an adjective and “rue” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,114
- “roh” frequency rank
- #16,534
- “rue” frequency rank
- 33648
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | roh | rue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht gekocht | Reue |
Where the eye mixes roh and rue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between roh and rue
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: roh is [ʁoː] while rue is [ruː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33648, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
roh is recorded at frequency rank #17,114, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʁoː]. rue is at rank #16,534, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ruː].
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 33648, this pair ranks #1,681,179 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of roh vs rue
Shared letters: r. Private to "roh": ho. Private to "rue": eu.
"roh" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "rue" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "roh" for "rue" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "roh" or "rue" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "roh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,681,179 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "roh" and "rue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "roh vs RUB". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,681,179 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.