DrittelnvsdritterWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Dritteln is a noun, dritter is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Dritteln” is a noun and “dritter” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#33,003
“Dritteln” frequency rank
#3,239
“dritter” frequency rank
36242
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Dritteln dritter
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Drittel Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs dritte

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Dritteln and dritter apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
Dritteln
7 ch
dritter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Dritteln is [ˈdʁɪtl̩n] while dritter is [ˈdʁɪtɐ]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36242, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Dritteln is recorded at frequency rank #33,003, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈdʁɪtl̩n]. dritter is at rank #3,239, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʁɪtɐ].

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 36242, this pair ranks #1,620,510 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Dritteln vs dritter

Shared letters: deirt. Private to "Dritteln": ln. Private to "dritter": -.

"Dritteln" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC  ·  "dritter" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Drittelnddritteln · dirtteln · driteln · dritetln · drittelln · drittelnn · drittenl · drittlen
  • dritterddritter · dirtter · driter · dritetr · dritterr · drittre · drritter · drtiter

Frequency comparison

Dritteln#33,003
dritter#3,239

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Dritteln" and "dritter" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Dritteln" is a noun and "dritter" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Dritteln" or "dritter"?
"dritter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,239 in our German list, against #33,003 for "Dritteln". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Dritteln vs dritter

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Dritteln”; for an adjective, it's “dritter”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Dritteln” 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