dreinvsdrinkWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: drein is a adverb, drink is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“drein” is an adverb and “drink” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,536
“drein” frequency rank
#14,042
“drink” frequency rank
58578
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature drein drink
Definition in eine bestimmte Situation/Lage hinein Flüssigkeit zu sich nehmen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set drein and drink apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
drein
5 ch
drink

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: drein is [dʁaɪ̯n] while drink is [dɹɪŋk]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58578, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

drein is recorded at frequency rank #44,536, classified as anadv, pronounced [dʁaɪ̯n]. drink is at rank #14,042, tagged as averb, pronounced [dɹɪŋk].

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 58578, this pair ranks #857,410 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of drein vs drink

Shared letters: dinr. Private to "drein": e. Private to "drink": k.

"drein" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC  ·  "drink" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dreinddrein · derin · dreinn · dreni · drien · drrein · rdein
  • drinkddrink · dirnk · drikn · drinkk · drinnk · drnik · drrink · rdink

Frequency comparison

drein#44,536
drink#14,042

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "drein" and "drink" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "drein" is an adverb and "drink" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "drein" or "drink"?
"drink" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,042 in our German list, against #44,536 for "drein". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering drein vs drink

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “drein”; for a verb, it's “drink”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “drein” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list