Which to use
“ordern” and “ordre” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,714
- “ordern” frequency rank
- #32,196
- “ordre” frequency rank
- 69910
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ordern | ordre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | einen Auftrag (eine Order) erteilen; etwas bestellen | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs ordern |
Where the eye mixes ordern and ordre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ordern runs 6 letters (VCCVCC) against ordre's 5 (VCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: ordern vs ordre
A purely visual mix-up. ordern ([ˈɔʁdɐn]) and ordre ([ˈɔʁdʁə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69910, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ordern is recorded at frequency rank #37,714, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɔʁdɐn]. ordre is at rank #32,196, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɔʁdʁə].
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 69910, this pair ranks #462,251 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ordern vs ordre
Shared letters: deor. Private to "ordern": n. Private to "ordre": -.
"ordern" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC · "ordre" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ordern" for "ordre" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "ordern" or "ordre" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "ordern" and "ordre" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ordern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ordre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #462,251 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ordern" and "ordre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ordern vs orders". 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 #462,251 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.