ruhigvsRuinWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ruhig is a adjective, Ruin is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ruhig” is an adjective and “Ruin” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,489
“ruhig” frequency rank
#21,044
“Ruin” frequency rank
22533
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ruhig Ruin
Definition von der Arbeit rastend und damit frei von jeder Mühe und Beschäftigung Zustand des vollständigen finanziellen, gesundheitlichen oder moralischen Zusammenbruchs

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ruhig and Ruin apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
ruhig
4 ch
Ruin

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ruhig is [ˈʁuːɪç] while Ruin is [ʁuˈiːn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22533, 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]. 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 22533, this pair ranks #1,873,020 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ruhig vs Ruin

Shared letters: iru. Private to "ruhig": gh. Private to "Ruin": n.

"ruhig" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Ruin" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ruhigrhuig · rruhig · ruhgi · ruhhig · ruhigg · ruihg · urhig
  • Ruinriun · rruin · ruinn · runi

Frequency comparison

ruhig#1,489
Ruin#21,044

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ruhig" and "Ruin" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ruhig" is an adjective and "Ruin" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ruhig" or "Ruin"?
"ruhig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,489 in our German list, against #21,044 for "Ruin". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ruhig vs Ruin

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “ruhig”; for a noun, it's “Ruin”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ruhig” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list