Which to use
“ruhig” is an adjective and “ruhte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,489
- “ruhig” frequency rank
- #36,599
- “ruhte” frequency rank
- 38088
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ruhig | ruhte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | von der Arbeit rastend und damit frei von jeder Mühe und Beschäftigung | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs ruhen |
Where the eye mixes ruhig and ruhte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. ruhig (CVCVC) and ruhte (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: ruhig vs ruhte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ruhig is [ˈʁuːɪç] while ruhte is [ˈʁuːtə]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38088, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ruhig is recorded at frequency rank #1,489, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁuːɪç]. ruhte is at rank #36,599, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁuːtə].
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 38088, this pair ranks #1,573,138 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ruhig vs ruhte
Shared letters: hru. Private to "ruhig": gi. Private to "ruhte": et.
"ruhig" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "ruhte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ruhig" and "ruhte" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "ruhig" or "ruhte" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ruhig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ruhte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,573,138 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ruhig" and "ruhte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rühmen vs ruhte". 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 #1,573,138 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.