DreieckvsdreierWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Dreieck is a noun, dreier is a num, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Dreieck” is a noun and “dreier” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,211
“Dreieck” frequency rank
#5,820
“dreier” frequency rank
17031
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Dreieck dreier
Definition geometrische Figur ^(→ WP), bei der drei nicht auf einer Geraden gelegene Punkte geradlinig verbunden sind und die dadurch entstehende Fläche Genitiv Plural der Flexion ohne bestimmten Artikel der Kardinalzahl drei

Where the eye mixes Dreieck and dreier

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Dreieck runs 7 letters (CCVVVCC) against dreier's 6 (CCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Dreieck
6 ch
dreier

Why the eye confuses Dreieck with dreier

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Dreieck is [ˈdʁaɪ̯ˌʔɛk] while dreier is [ˈdʁaɪ̯ɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17031, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Dreieck is recorded at frequency rank #11,211, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈdʁaɪ̯ˌʔɛk]. dreier is at rank #5,820, tagged as anum, pronounced [ˈdʁaɪ̯ɐ].

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 17031, this pair ranks #1,930,942 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Dreieck vs dreier

Shared letters: deir. Private to "Dreieck": ck. Private to "dreier": -.

"Dreieck" · 7 letters · shape CCVVVCC  ·  "dreier" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Dreieck ← ddreieck · derieck · dreeick · dreicek · dreiecck · dreieckk · dreiekc · drieeck
  • dreier ← ddreier · derier · dreeir · dreierr · dreire · drieer · drreier · rdeier

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Dreieck" and "dreier" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Dreieck" is a noun and "dreier" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Dreieck" or "dreier" show up more?
"dreier" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,820 in our German list, against #11,211 for "Dreieck". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Dreieck" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dreier" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,930,942 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Dreieck" and "dreier" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Dreieck vs Dreieich". 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 #1,930,942 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