Which to use
“rösten” and “rotten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,557
- “rösten” frequency rank
- #34,340
- “rotten” frequency rank
- 79897
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rösten | rotten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Flachs oder Hanf zum Gewinnen von Pflanzenfasern mürbe machen | faulen, verfallen |
Where the eye mixes rösten and rotten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. rösten and rotten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: rösten vs rotten
A purely visual mix-up. rösten ([ˈʁœstn̩]) and rotten ([ˈʁɔtn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79897, 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]. rotten is at rank #34,340, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁɔtn̩].
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 79897, this pair ranks #206,755 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of rösten vs rotten
Shared letters: enrt. Private to "rösten": sö. Private to "rotten": o.
"rösten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "rotten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- rotten ← rotetn · rottenn · rottne · rrotten · rtoten
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "rösten" for "rotten" ever safe?
Which is more common, "rösten" or "rotten"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "rösten" and "rotten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "rösten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rotten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #206,755 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rösten" and "rotten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rollten vs rösten". 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 #206,755 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.