drevsDRKTell them apart

Which to use

“dre” and “DRK” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#36,889
“dre” frequency rank
#13,124
“DRK” frequency rank
50013
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dre DRK
Definition der Hirsch Deutsches Rotes Kreuz

Where the eye mixes dre and DRK

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
dre
3 ch
DRK

Visual trap between dre and DRK

A purely visual mix-up. dre ([dreː]) and DRK ([deʔɛʁˈkaː]) 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 - e in “dre” becomes k in “DRK”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50013, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dre is recorded at frequency rank #36,889, classified as anoun, pronounced [dreː]. DRK is at rank #13,124, tagged as anoun, pronounced [deʔɛʁˈkaː].

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 50013, this pair ranks #1,189,871 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dre vs DRK

Shared letters: dr. Private to "dre": e. Private to "DRK": k.

"dre" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "DRK" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dre" for "DRK" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([dreː] versus [deʔɛʁˈkaː]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "dre" or "DRK" show up more?
"DRK" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,124 in our German list, against #36,889 for "dre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "dre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "DRK" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,189,871 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dre" and "DRK" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dörr vs dre". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,189,871 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list