Which to use
“demi” is an adjective and “drei” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,873
- “demi” frequency rank
- #175
- “drei” frequency rank
- 37048
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | demi | drei |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | halb | die Kardinalzahl zwischen zwei und vier |
Where the eye mixes demi and drei
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between demi and drei
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: demi is [də.mi] while drei is [dʁaɪ̯]. 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 (adjective vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37048, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
demi is recorded at frequency rank #36,873, classified as anadj, pronounced [də.mi]. 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 37048, this pair ranks #1,600,127 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of demi vs drei
Shared letters: dei. Private to "demi": m. Private to "drei": r.
"demi" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "drei" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "demi" and "drei" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "demi" vs "drei" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "demi" 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 #1,600,127 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "demi" and "drei" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "demi vs dess". 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 #1,600,127 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.