Which to use
“3” and “drei” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #93
- “3” frequency rank
- #175
- “drei” frequency rank
- 268
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | 3 | drei |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine arabische Ziffer (ein Zahlzeichen), welche die Zahl Drei darstellt | die Kardinalzahl zwischen zwei und vier |
Same sound, different letters: 3 vs drei
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. No shared letter run - the mix-up is pure homophony.
Same sound, different spelling - 3 / drei
This is the hard kind. 3 and drei are pronounced identically ([dʁaɪ̯]) and both work as anum. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 3 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 268, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
3 is recorded at frequency rank #93, classified as anum, pronounced [dʁaɪ̯]. drei is at rank #175, tagged as anum, pronounced [dʁaɪ̯].
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 268, this pair ranks #2,006,066 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of 3 vs drei
Shared letters: none. Private to "3": -. Private to "drei": deir.
"3" · 0 letters · shape · "drei" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- drei ← ddrei · deri · drie · drrei · rdei
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "3" and "drei" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "3" or "drei" show up more?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "3" / "drei". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "3" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "drei" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,006,066 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "3" and "drei" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "diet vs drei". 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 #2,006,066 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.