reiftvsreinWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: reift is a verb, rein is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#39,589
“reift” frequency rank
#605
“rein” frequency rank
40194
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reift rein
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs reifen ganz unverschmutzt

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
reift
4 ch
rein

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reift is [ʁaɪ̯ft] while rein is [ʁaɪ̯n]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40194, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reift is recorded at frequency rank #39,589, classified as averb, pronounced [ʁaɪ̯ft]. rein is at rank #605, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʁaɪ̯n].

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 40194, this pair ranks #1,515,461 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of reift vs rein

Shared letters: eir. Private to "reift": ft. Private to "rein": n.

"reift" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "rein" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reifterift · refit · reifft · reiftt · reitf · rieft · rreift
  • reinreinn · reni · rien · rrein

Frequency comparison

reift#39,589
rein#605

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "reift" and "rein" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "reift" is a verb and "rein" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "reift" or "rein"?
"rein" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #605 in our German list, against #39,589 for "reift". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering reift vs rein

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “reift”; for an adjective, it's “rein”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “reift” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list