RostvsrufstWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#14,913
“Rost” frequency rank
#33,787
“rufst” frequency rank
48700
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Rost rufst
Definition rötlich braunes Produkt der Korrosion von Eisen 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs rufen

Where the eye mixes Rost and rufst

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

4 ch
Rost
5 ch
rufst

Look-alike desk: Rost vs rufst

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Rost is [ʁɔst] while rufst is [ʁuːfst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 48700, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Rost is recorded at frequency rank #14,913, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʁɔst]. rufst is at rank #33,787, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʁuːfst].

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 48700, this pair ranks #1,238,886 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Rost vs rufst

Shared letters: rst. Private to "Rost": o. Private to "rufst": fu.

"Rost" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "rufst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Rostorst · rosst · rostt · rots · rrost · rsot
  • rufstrrufst · ruffst · rufsst · rufstt · rufts · rusft · urfst

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Rost" and "rufst" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Rost" is a noun and "rufst" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Rost" or "rufst"?
"Rost" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,913 in our German list, against #33,787 for "rufst". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Rost" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rufst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,238,886 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Rost" and "rufst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rufst vs russo". 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 #1,238,886 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