ruevsRundeTell them apart

Which to use

“rue” and “Runde” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#16,534
“rue” frequency rank
#1,040
“Runde” frequency rank
17574
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rue Runde
Definition Reue das Absolvieren eines Weges, der wieder an seinen Ausgangspunkt zurückkehrt

Where the eye mixes rue and Runde

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

3 ch
rue
5 ch
Runde

Why the eye confuses rue with Runde

A purely visual mix-up. rue ([ruː]) and Runde ([ˈʁʊndə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17574, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rue is recorded at frequency rank #16,534, classified as anoun, pronounced [ruː]. Runde is at rank #1,040, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁʊndə].

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 17574, this pair ranks #1,926,165 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of rue vs Runde

Shared letters: eru. Private to "rue": -. Private to "Runde": dn.

"rue" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "Runde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Rundernude · rrunde · rudne · rundde · runed · runnde · urnde

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "rue" and "Runde" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ruː] versus [ˈʁʊndə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "rue" vs "Runde" - which ranks higher?
"Runde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,040 in our German list, against #16,534 for "rue". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "rue" and "Runde" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "rue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Runde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,926,165 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rue" and "Runde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "RUB vs rue". 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 #1,926,165 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