rulevsRunenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#31,762
“rule” frequency rank
#32,242
“Runen” frequency rank
64004
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rule Runen
Definition Regel, Vorschrift Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Rune

Letter map: rule vs Runen

Shared letters muted; letters that set rule and Runen apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

4 ch
rule
5 ch
Runen

Pair insight - rule / Runen

rule and Runen are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64004, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rule is recorded at frequency rank #31,762, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. Runen is at rank #32,242, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁuːnən].

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 64004, this pair ranks #656,736 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of rule vs Runen

Shared letters: eru. Private to "rule": l. Private to "Runen": n.

"rule" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Runen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rulerlue · rrule · ruel · rulle · urle
  • Runenrnuen · rrunen · ruenn · runenn · runne · runnen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "rule" and "Runen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary German text, does "rule" or "Runen" show up more?
"rule" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,762 in our German list, against #32,242 for "Runen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "rule" and "Runen".

  • Full dictionary entry for "rule" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Runen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #656,736 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rule" and "Runen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs rule". 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 #656,736 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