ordnenvsordreWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“ordnen” and “ordre” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#16,507
“ordnen” frequency rank
#32,196
“ordre” frequency rank
48703
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ordnen ordre
Definition etwas in eine bestimmte Reihenfolge oder Verteilung bringen 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs ordern

Where the eye mixes ordnen and ordre

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
ordnen
5 ch
ordre

Why the eye confuses ordnen with ordre

A purely visual mix-up. ordnen ([ˈɔʁdnən]) 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 48703, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ordnen is recorded at frequency rank #16,507, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɔʁdnən]. 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 48703, this pair ranks #1,238,770 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ordnen vs ordre

Shared letters: deor. Private to "ordnen": n. Private to "ordre": -.

"ordnen" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC  ·  "ordre" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ordnenodrnen · orddnen · ordnenn · ordnne · ordnnen · ornden · orrdnen · rodnen
  • ordreodrre · orddre · ordrre · orrde · orrdre · rodre

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ordnen" and "ordre" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɔʁdnən] versus [ˈɔʁdʁə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ordnen" or "ordre"?
"ordnen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,507 in our German list, against #32,196 for "ordre". 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 "ordnen" 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 #1,238,770 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ordnen" and "ordre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "orders vs ordre". 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 #1,238,770 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