drinkvsDRKConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#14,042
“drink” frequency rank
#13,124
“DRK” frequency rank
27166
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature drink DRK
Definition Flüssigkeit zu sich nehmen Deutsches Rotes Kreuz

Where the eye mixes drink and DRK

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
drink
3 ch
DRK

Look-alike desk: drink vs DRK

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: drink is [dɹɪŋk] while DRK is [deʔɛʁˈkaː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27166, 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]. 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 27166, this pair ranks #1,806,235 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of drink vs DRK

Shared letters: dkr. Private to "drink": in. Private to "DRK": -.

"drink" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "DRK" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • drinkddrink · dirnk · drikn · drinkk · drinnk · drnik · drrink · rdink

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "drink" for "DRK" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "drink" is a verb and "DRK" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "drink" 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 #14,042 for "drink". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "drink" 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 #1,806,235 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "drink" and "DRK" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dörr vs DRK". 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 #1,806,235 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