reinvsRetinaConfusable pair

Quick tell: rein is a adjective, Retina is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#605
“rein” frequency rank
#38,971
“Retina” frequency rank
39576
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rein Retina
Definition ganz unverschmutzt optisch durchsichtige Schicht des inneren Auges, die unter anderem die Photorezeptoren (Stäbchen und Zäpfchen) enthält

Where the eye mixes rein and Retina

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. rein runs 4 letters (CVVC) against Retina's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
rein
6 ch
Retina

Visual trap between rein and Retina

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rein is [ʁaɪ̯n] while Retina is [ˈʁeːtina]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39576, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rein is recorded at frequency rank #605, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʁaɪ̯n]. Retina is at rank #38,971, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁeːtina].

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 39576, this pair ranks #1,532,935 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of rein vs Retina

Shared letters: einr. Private to "rein": -. Private to "Retina": at.

"rein" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Retina" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rein ← reinn · reni · rien · rrein
  • Retina ← ertina · reitna · retian · retinna · retnia · rettina · rretina · rteina

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rein" and "Retina" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "rein" is an adjective and "Retina" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "rein" vs "Retina" - which ranks higher?
"rein" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #605 in our German list, against #38,971 for "Retina". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "rein" and "Retina" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "rein" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Retina" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,532,935 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rein" and "Retina" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reina vs Retina". 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 #1,532,935 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