ruhigevsruhigerConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#9,082
“ruhige” frequency rank
#7,658
“ruhiger” frequency rank
16740
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ruhige ruhiger
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ruhig Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ruhig

Where the eye mixes ruhige and ruhiger

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. ruhige runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against ruhiger's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
ruhige
7 ch
ruhiger

Why the eye confuses ruhige with ruhiger

A purely visual mix-up. ruhige ([ˈʁuːɪɡə]) and ruhiger ([ˈʁuːɪɡɐ]) 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 extra letter(s) - “ruhige” sits inside “ruhiger”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16740, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ruhige is recorded at frequency rank #9,082, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁuːɪɡə]. ruhiger is at rank #7,658, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁuːɪɡɐ].

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 16740, this pair ranks #1,933,364 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ruhige vs ruhiger

Shared letters: eghiru. Private to "ruhige": -. Private to "ruhiger": -.

"ruhige" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "ruhiger" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ruhige ← rhuige · rruhige · ruhgie · ruhhige · ruhieg · ruhigge · ruihge · urhige
  • ruhiger ← rhuiger · rruhiger · ruhgier · ruhhiger · ruhiegr · ruhigerr · ruhigger · ruhigre

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ruhige" and "ruhiger" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁuːɪɡə] versus [ˈʁuːɪɡɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ruhige" vs "ruhiger" - which ranks higher?
"ruhiger" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,658 in our German list, against #9,082 for "ruhige". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ruhige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ruhiger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,933,364 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ruhige" and "ruhiger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ruhige vs rührte". 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 #1,933,364 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