Which to use
“drink” and “drinks” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,042
- “drink” frequency rank
- #16,962
- “drinks” frequency rank
- 31004
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | drink | drinks |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Flüssigkeit zu sich nehmen | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs to drink |
Where the eye mixes drink and drinks
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: drink vs drinks
A purely visual mix-up. drink ([dɹɪŋk]) and drinks ([dɹɪŋks]) 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 extra letter(s) - “drink” sits inside “drinks”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31004, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
drink is recorded at frequency rank #14,042, classified as averb, pronounced [dɹɪŋk]. drinks is at rank #16,962, tagged as averb, pronounced [dɹɪŋks].
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 31004, this pair ranks #1,736,699 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of drink vs drinks
Shared letters: diknr. Private to "drink": -. Private to "drinks": s.
"drink" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "drinks" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "drink" for "drinks" ever safe?
Frequency check: "drink" vs "drinks" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "drink" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "drinks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,736,699 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "drink" and "drinks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Dinos vs drinks". 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 #1,736,699 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.