rugevsruinWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ruge is a verb, ruin is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ruge” is a verb and “ruin” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,137
“ruge” frequency rank
#30,659
“ruin” frequency rank
72796
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ruge ruin
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de rugir. Que por su bajeza merece el desprecio.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ruge and ruin apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
ruge
4 ch
ruin

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ruge is [ˈruxe] while ruin is [ˈrwĩn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72796, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ruge is recorded at frequency rank #42,137, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈruxe]. ruin is at rank #30,659, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈrwĩn].

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 72796, this pair ranks #24,642 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ruge vs ruin

Shared letters: ru. Private to "ruge": eg. Private to "ruin": in.

"ruge" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "ruin" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rugergue · rruge · rueg · rugge
  • ruinriun · rruin · ruinn · runi · urin

Frequency comparison

ruge#42,137
ruin#30,659

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ruge" and "ruin" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ruge" is a verb and "ruin" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ruge" or "ruin"?
"ruin" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,659 in our Spanish list, against #42,137 for "ruge". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ruge vs ruin

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “ruge”; for an adjective, it's “ruin”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ruge” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list