ruftvsrührtTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,318
“ruft” frequency rank
#11,512
“rührt” frequency rank
13830
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ruft rührt
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs rufen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs rühren

Where the eye mixes ruft and rührt

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

4 ch
ruft
5 ch
rührt

Visual trap between ruft and rührt

A purely visual mix-up. ruft ([ʁuːft]) and rührt ([ʁyːɐ̯t]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13830, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ruft is recorded at frequency rank #2,318, classified as averb, pronounced [ʁuːft]. rührt is at rank #11,512, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʁyːɐ̯t].

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 13830, this pair ranks #1,955,396 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ruft vs rührt

Shared letters: rt. Private to "ruft": fu. Private to "rührt": .

"ruft" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "rührt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ruftrfut · rruft · rufft · ruftt · rutf · urft

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ruft" and "rührt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ʁuːft] versus [ʁyːɐ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ruft" vs "rührt" - which ranks higher?
"ruft" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,318 in our German list, against #11,512 for "rührt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ruft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rührt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,955,396 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ruft" and "rührt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rudert vs rührt". 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 #1,955,396 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