realevsreimeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: reale is a adjective, reime is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“reale” is an adjective and “reime” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,521
“reale” frequency rank
#33,778
“reime” frequency rank
41299
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reale reime
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs real 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs reimen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set reale and reime apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
reale
5 ch
reime

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reale is [ʁeˈaːlə] while reime is [ˈʁaɪ̯mə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41299, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reale is recorded at frequency rank #7,521, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʁeˈaːlə]. reime is at rank #33,778, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯mə].

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 41299, this pair ranks #1,483,583 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of reale vs reime

Shared letters: er. Private to "reale": al. Private to "reime": im.

"reale" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "reime" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • realeerale · raele · reael · realle · relae · rreale
  • reimeerime · reiem · reimme · remie · rieme · rreime

Frequency comparison

reale#7,521
reime#33,778

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "reale" and "reime" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "reale" is an adjective and "reime" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "reale" or "reime"?
"reale" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,521 in our German list, against #33,778 for "reime". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering reale vs reime

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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