ReinenvsReiseTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,418
“Reinen” frequency rank
#1,091
“Reise” frequency rank
6509
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Reinen Reise
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Rein Fortbewegung von einem Ausgangspunkt zu einem entfernten Ort mit dortigem Aufenthalt und wieder zurück

Where the eye mixes Reinen and Reise

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Reinen runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against Reise's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Reinen
5 ch
Reise

Why the eye confuses Reinen with Reise

A purely visual mix-up. Reinen ([ˈʁaɪ̯nən]) and Reise ([ˈʁaɪ̯zə]) 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 6509, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Reinen is recorded at frequency rank #5,418, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯nən]. Reise is at rank #1,091, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯zə].

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 6509, this pair ranks #1,991,393 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Reinen vs Reise

Shared letters: eir. Private to "Reinen": n. Private to "Reise": s.

"Reinen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Reise" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Reinenerinen · reienn · reinenn · reinnen · renien · rienen · rreinen
  • Reiseerise · reies · reisse · resie · rreise

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Reinen" and "Reise" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁaɪ̯nən] versus [ˈʁaɪ̯zə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Reinen" or "Reise" show up more?
"Reise" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,091 in our German list, against #5,418 for "Reinen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Reinen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Reise" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,991,393 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Reinen" and "Reise" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Reinen vs reinsten". 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 #1,991,393 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