Which to use
“der” is a determiner and “drei” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2
- “der” frequency rank
- #175
- “drei” frequency rank
- 177
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | der | drei |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | definiter Artikel (bestimmtes Geschlechtswort) | die Kardinalzahl zwischen zwei und vier |
Where the eye mixes der and drei
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: der vs drei
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: der is [deːɐ̯] while drei is [dʁaɪ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (determiner vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 177, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
der is recorded at frequency rank #2, classified as adet, pronounced [deːɐ̯]. 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 177, this pair ranks #2,006,186 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of der vs drei
Shared letters: der. Private to "der": -. Private to "drei": i.
"der" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "drei" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- drei ← ddrei · deri · drie · drrei · rdei
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "der" for "drei" ever safe?
Frequency check: "der" vs "drei" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "der" 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 #2,006,186 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "der" 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 #2,006,186 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.