reinigenvsreinigtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,796
“reinigen” frequency rank
#30,259
“reinigt” frequency rank
40055
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reinigen reinigt
Definition etwas von Schmutz befreien, eine Verunreinigung beseitigen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs reinigen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set reinigen and reinigt apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
reinigen
7 ch
reinigt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. reinigen ([ˈʁaɪ̯nɪɡn̩]) and reinigt ([ˈʁaɪ̯nɪçt]) 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 40055, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reinigen is recorded at frequency rank #9,796, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯nɪɡn̩]. reinigt is at rank #30,259, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯nɪçt].

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 40055, this pair ranks #1,519,304 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of reinigen vs reinigt

Shared letters: eginr. Private to "reinigen": -. Private to "reinigt": t.

"reinigen" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC  ·  "reinigt" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reinigenerinigen · reiingen · reingien · reiniegn · reinigenn · reiniggen · reinigne · reinnigen
  • reinigterinigt · reiingt · reingit · reiniggt · reinigtt · reinitg · reinnigt · reniigt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "reinigen" and "reinigt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁaɪ̯nɪɡn̩] versus [ˈʁaɪ̯nɪçt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "reinigen" or "reinigt"?
"reinigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,796 in our German list, against #30,259 for "reinigt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list