Which to use
“deren” is an unknown and “dre” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #326
- “deren” frequency rank
- #36,889
- “dre” frequency rank
- 37215
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deren | dre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular des Pronomens die | der Hirsch |
Where the eye mixes deren and dre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. deren runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against dre's 3 (CCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses deren with dre
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: deren is [ˈdeːʁən] while dre is [dreː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37215, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deren is recorded at frequency rank #326, classified as anunknown, pronounced [ˈdeːʁən]. dre is at rank #36,889, tagged as anoun, pronounced [dreː].
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 37215, this pair ranks #1,595,935 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of deren vs dre
Shared letters: der. Private to "deren": n. Private to "dre": -.
"deren" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "dre" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- deren ← dderen · deern · derenn · derne · derren · dreen · edren
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "deren" for "dre" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "deren" or "dre" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "deren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,595,935 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "deren" and "dre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dörr vs dre". 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 #1,595,935 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.