RungevsRuteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#39,599
“Runge” frequency rank
#37,750
“Rute” frequency rank
77349
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Runge Rute
Definition seitlich an einer Ladefläche befestigte senkrechte Stange bei landwirtschaftlichen Fahrzeugen und Lastfahrzeugen zur Sicherung von Ladegut und Halterung von Seitenwänden meist zusammengebundene lange, dünne und flexible Zweige (ohne Blätter), Gerte

Where the eye mixes Runge and Rute

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Runge
4 ch
Rute

Look-alike desk: Runge vs Rute

A purely visual mix-up. Runge ([ˈʁʊŋə]) and Rute ([ˈʁuːtə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77349, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Runge is recorded at frequency rank #39,599, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁʊŋə]. Rute is at rank #37,750, tagged as anoun, 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 77349, this pair ranks #262,793 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Runge vs Rute

Shared letters: eru. Private to "Runge": gn. Private to "Rute": t.

"Runge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Rute" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Rungernuge · rrunge · rugne · runeg · rungge · runnge · urnge
  • Ruterrute · ruet · rutte · urte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Runge" for "Rute" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁʊŋə] versus [ˈʁuːtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Runge" or "Rute"?
"Rute" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,750 in our German list, against #39,599 for "Runge". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Runge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Rute" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #262,793 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Runge" and "Rute" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "RUB vs Rute". 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 #262,793 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