rufevsruhtTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,967
“rufe” frequency rank
#11,114
“ruht” frequency rank
18081
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rufe ruht
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs rufen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs ruhen

Where the eye mixes rufe and ruht

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
rufe
4 ch
ruht

Visual trap between rufe and ruht

A purely visual mix-up. rufe ([ˈʁuːfə]) and ruht ([ʁuːt]) 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 18081, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rufe is recorded at frequency rank #6,967, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁuːfə]. ruht is at rank #11,114, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʁuːt].

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 18081, this pair ranks #1,921,584 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of rufe vs ruht

Shared letters: ru. Private to "rufe": ef. Private to "ruht": ht.

"rufe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "ruht" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ruferfue · rrufe · ruef · ruffe · urfe
  • ruhtrhut · rruht · ruhht · ruhtt · urht

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "rufe" and "ruht" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁuːfə] versus [ʁuːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "rufe" or "ruht"?
"rufe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,967 in our German list, against #11,114 for "ruht". 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 "rufe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ruht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,921,584 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rufe" and "ruht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "RUB vs ruht". 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 #1,921,584 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