Which to use
“reines” is an adjective and “Rheine” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,932
- “reines” frequency rank
- #20,385
- “Rheine” frequency rank
- 29317
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reines | Rheine |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs rein | eine Stadt in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Deutschland |
Where the eye mixes reines and Rheine
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. reines (CVVCVC) and Rheine (CCVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: reines vs Rheine
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reines is [ˈʁaɪ̯nəs] while Rheine is [ˈʁaɪ̯nə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 5 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29317, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reines is recorded at frequency rank #8,932, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯nəs]. Rheine is at rank #20,385, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯nə].
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 29317, this pair ranks #1,769,063 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of reines vs Rheine
Shared letters: einr. Private to "reines": s. Private to "Rheine": h.
"reines" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "Rheine" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "reines" for "Rheine" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "reines" or "Rheine" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "reines" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Rheine" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,769,063 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reines" and "Rheine" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reibe vs Rheine". 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 #1,769,063 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.