Which to use
“role” is a noun and “rollen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35,998
- “role” frequency rank
- #2,610
- “rollen” frequency rank
- 38608
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | role | rollen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | die Rolle | während einer Vor- oder Rückwärtsbewegung sich selbst um die eigene Achse drehen; die Bewegung eines Rades |
Letter map: role vs rollen
Shared letters muted; letters that set role and rollen apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Role in the sentence - role and rollen
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: role is anoun and rollenaverb. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38608, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
role is recorded at frequency rank #35,998, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. rollen is at rank #2,610, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁɔlən].
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 38608, this pair ranks #1,559,460 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of role vs rollen
Shared letters: elor. Private to "role": -. Private to "rollen": n.
"role" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "rollen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "role" for "rollen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "role" or "rollen" show up more?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "role" and "rollen".
- Full dictionary entry for "role" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rollen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,559,460 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "role" and "rollen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs role". 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 #1,559,460 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.