Which to use
“dran” and “drauf” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #964
- “dran” frequency rank
- #759
- “drauf” frequency rank
- 1723
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dran | drauf |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine direkte räumliche Berührung ausdrückend | auf etwas |
Where the eye mixes dran and drauf
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: dran vs drauf
A purely visual mix-up. dran ([dʁan]) and drauf ([dʁaʊ̯f]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1723, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dran is recorded at frequency rank #964, classified as anadv, pronounced [dʁan]. drauf is at rank #759, tagged as anadv, pronounced [dʁaʊ̯f].
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 1723, this pair ranks #2,003,840 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dran vs drauf
Shared letters: adr. Private to "dran": n. Private to "drauf": fu.
"dran" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "drauf" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dran" and "drauf" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "dran" or "drauf"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dran" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "drauf" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,003,840 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dran" and "drauf" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dran vs duran". 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 #2,003,840 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.