Which to use
“Rührei” is a noun and “ruhte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,176
- “Rührei” frequency rank
- #36,599
- “ruhte” frequency rank
- 73775
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Rührei | ruhte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit Flüssigkeit (etwa Kondensmilch oder Sahne), Salz, Pfeffer und anderen Gewürzen verschlagene Eier, die in der Pfanne gestockt werden | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs ruhen |
Where the eye mixes Rührei and ruhte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Rührei runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against ruhte's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Rührei vs ruhte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Rührei is [ˈʁyːɐ̯ˌʔaɪ̯] while ruhte is [ˈʁuːtə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73775, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Rührei is recorded at frequency rank #37,176, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁyːɐ̯ˌʔaɪ̯]. 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 73775, this pair ranks #351,290 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Rührei vs ruhte
Shared letters: ehr. Private to "Rührei": iü. Private to "ruhte": tu.
"Rührei" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "ruhte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- ruhte ← rhute · rruhte · ruhet · ruhhte · ruhtte · ruthe · urhte
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Rührei" for "ruhte" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Rührei" or "ruhte"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Rührei" 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 #351,290 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Rührei" and "ruhte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rühmen vs Rührei". 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 #351,290 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.