Which to use
“dran” and “drin” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #964
- “dran” frequency rank
- #1,126
- “drin” frequency rank
- 2090
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dran | drin |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine direkte räumliche Berührung ausdrückend | eine Ortsangabe ‚innerhalb von etwas‘ verstärkend |
Where the eye mixes dran and drin
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses dran with drin
A purely visual mix-up. dran ([dʁan]) and drin ([dʁɪn]) 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 a single letter - a in “dran” becomes i in “drin”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2090, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dran is recorded at frequency rank #964, classified as anadv, pronounced [dʁan]. drin is at rank #1,126, tagged as anadv, pronounced [dʁɪn].
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 2090, this pair ranks #2,003,134 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dran vs drin
Shared letters: dnr. Private to "dran": a. Private to "drin": i.
"dran" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "drin" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dran" for "drin" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "dran" or "drin" show up more?
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 "dran" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "drin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,003,134 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dran" and "drin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "drin 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 #2,003,134 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.