Which to use
“rufe” is a verb and “Ruin” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,967
- “rufe” frequency rank
- #21,044
- “Ruin” frequency rank
- 28011
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rufe | Ruin |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs rufen | Zustand des vollständigen finanziellen, gesundheitlichen oder moralischen Zusammenbruchs |
Where the eye mixes rufe and Ruin
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: rufe vs Ruin
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rufe is [ˈʁuːfə] while Ruin is [ʁuˈiːn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28011, 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]. Ruin is at rank #21,044, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʁuˈiːn].
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 28011, this pair ranks #1,792,108 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of rufe vs Ruin
Shared letters: ru. Private to "rufe": ef. Private to "Ruin": in.
"rufe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "Ruin" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "rufe" for "Ruin" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "rufe" or "Ruin" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "rufe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Ruin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,792,108 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rufe" and "Ruin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "RUB vs Ruin". 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 #1,792,108 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.