Which to use
“rotten” is a verb and “Routen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,340
- “rotten” frequency rank
- #15,196
- “Routen” frequency rank
- 49536
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rotten | Routen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | faulen, verfallen | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Route |
Where the eye mixes rotten and Routen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. rotten (CVCCVC) and Routen (CVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses rotten with Routen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rotten is [ˈʁɔtn̩] while Routen is [ˈʁuːtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - t in “rotten” becomes u in “Routen”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49536, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rotten is recorded at frequency rank #34,340, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁɔtn̩]. Routen is at rank #15,196, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁuːtn̩].
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 49536, this pair ranks #1,207,814 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of rotten vs Routen
Shared letters: enort. Private to "rotten": -. Private to "Routen": u.
"rotten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Routen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "rotten" and "Routen" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "rotten" vs "Routen" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "rotten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Routen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,207,814 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rotten" and "Routen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rollten vs rotten". 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 #1,207,814 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.