Which to use
“derlei” is a pronoun and “drei” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,678
- “derlei” frequency rank
- #175
- “drei” frequency rank
- 22853
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | derlei | drei |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | von solcher Art, derartig | die Kardinalzahl zwischen zwei und vier |
Where the eye mixes derlei and drei
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. derlei runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against drei's 4 (CCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: derlei vs drei
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: derlei is [ˈdeːɐ̯laɪ̯] while drei is [dʁaɪ̯]. 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 (pronoun vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22853, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
derlei is recorded at frequency rank #22,678, classified as apron, pronounced [ˈdeːɐ̯laɪ̯]. 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 22853, this pair ranks #1,868,902 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of derlei vs drei
Shared letters: deir. Private to "derlei": l. Private to "drei": -.
"derlei" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "drei" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "derlei" and "drei" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "derlei" or "drei" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "derlei" and "drei" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "derlei" 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 #1,868,902 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "derlei" and "drei" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "degli vs derlei". 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 #1,868,902 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.