röstenvsrotenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: rösten is a verb, roten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“rösten” is a verb and “roten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#45,557
“rösten” frequency rank
#1,677
“roten” frequency rank
47234
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rösten roten
Definition Flachs oder Hanf zum Gewinnen von Pflanzenfasern mürbe machen Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs rot

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set rösten and roten apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
rösten
5 ch
roten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rösten is [ˈʁœstn̩] while roten is [ˈʁoːtn̩]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47234, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rösten is recorded at frequency rank #45,557, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁœstn̩]. roten is at rank #1,677, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁoːtn̩].

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 47234, this pair ranks #1,291,565 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of rösten vs roten

Shared letters: enrt. Private to "rösten": . Private to "roten": o.

"rösten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "roten" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rotenroetn · rotenn · rotne · rroten · rtoen

Frequency comparison

rösten#45,557
roten#1,677

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rösten" and "roten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "rösten" is a verb and "roten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "rösten" or "roten"?
"roten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,677 in our German list, against #45,557 for "rösten". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering rösten vs roten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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