RuhvsrührtWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Ruh is a noun, rührt is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Ruh” is a noun and “rührt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,679
“Ruh” frequency rank
#11,512
“rührt” frequency rank
30191
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ruh rührt
Definition ein Zustand der Ungestörtheit 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs rühren

Where the eye mixes Ruh and rührt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Ruh runs 3 letters (CVC) against rührt's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
Ruh
5 ch
rührt

Look-alike desk: Ruh vs rührt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ruh is [ʁuː] while rührt is [ʁyːɐ̯t]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30191, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ruh is recorded at frequency rank #18,679, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʁuː]. 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 30191, this pair ranks #1,752,646 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ruh vs rührt

Shared letters: hr. Private to "Ruh": u. Private to "rührt": tü.

"Ruh" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "rührt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Ruh" and "rührt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ruh" is a noun and "rührt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Ruh" or "rührt"?
"rührt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,512 in our German list, against #18,679 for "Ruh". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ruh" 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 #1,752,646 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ruh" and "rührt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "RUB vs Ruh". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,752,646 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