RohrvsröhrenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Rohr is a noun, röhren is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Rohr” is a noun and “röhren” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,223
“Rohr” frequency rank
#19,027
“röhren” frequency rank
26250
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Rohr röhren
Definition ein zylinderförmiger, hohler Gegenstand zur Durchleitung von Flüssigkeiten, Gasen und Feststoffen (laut) weinen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Rohr and röhren apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
Rohr
6 ch
röhren

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Rohr is [ʁoːɐ̯] while röhren is [ˈʁøːʁən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26250, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Rohr is recorded at frequency rank #7,223, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʁoːɐ̯]. röhren is at rank #19,027, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁøːʁən].

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 26250, this pair ranks #1,820,957 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Rohr vs röhren

Shared letters: hr. Private to "Rohr": o. Private to "röhren": enö.

"Rohr" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "röhren" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Rohrorhr · rhor · rohhr · rohrr · rorh · rrohr

Frequency comparison

Rohr#7,223
röhren#19,027

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Rohr" and "röhren" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Rohr" is a noun and "röhren" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Rohr" or "röhren"?
"Rohr" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,223 in our German list, against #19,027 for "röhren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Rohr vs röhren

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Rohr”; for a verb, it's “röhren”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Rohr” 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