Which to use
“reine” is an adjective and “Retina” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,068
- “reine” frequency rank
- #38,971
- “Retina” frequency rank
- 42039
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reine | Retina |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs rein | optisch durchsichtige Schicht des inneren Auges, die unter anderem die Photorezeptoren (Stäbchen und Zäpfchen) enthält |
Where the eye mixes reine and Retina
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. reine runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against Retina's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between reine and Retina
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reine is [ˈʁaɪ̯nə] while Retina is [ˈʁeːtina]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42039, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reine is recorded at frequency rank #3,068, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯nə]. 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 42039, this pair ranks #1,461,453 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of reine vs Retina
Shared letters: einr. Private to "reine": -. Private to "Retina": at.
"reine" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "Retina" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "reine" for "Retina" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "reine" or "Retina" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "reine" 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 #1,461,453 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reine" 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 #1,461,453 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.