Which to use
“roh” is an adjective and “Ruh” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,114
- “roh” frequency rank
- #18,679
- “Ruh” frequency rank
- 35793
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | roh | Ruh |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht gekocht | ein Zustand der Ungestörtheit |
Where the eye mixes roh and Ruh
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between roh and Ruh
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: roh is [ʁoː] while Ruh is [ʁuː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - o in “roh” becomes u in “Ruh”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35793, 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]. Ruh is at rank #18,679, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʁuː].
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 35793, this pair ranks #1,631,381 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of roh vs Ruh
Shared letters: hr. Private to "roh": o. Private to "Ruh": u.
"roh" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "Ruh" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "roh" and "Ruh" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "roh" or "Ruh" 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 "Ruh" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,631,381 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "roh" and "Ruh" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "RUB vs Ruh". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,631,381 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.