Which to use
“reinigen” is a verb and “Reinigung” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,796
- “reinigen” frequency rank
- #7,657
- “Reinigung” frequency rank
- 17453
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reinigen | Reinigung |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas von Schmutz befreien, eine Verunreinigung beseitigen | das Entfernen von Verschmutzung; das Reinigen von etwas |
Where the eye mixes reinigen and Reinigung
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. reinigen runs 8 letters (CVVCVCVC) against Reinigung's 9 (CVVCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses reinigen with Reinigung
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reinigen is [ˈʁaɪ̯nɪɡn̩] while Reinigung is [ˈʁaɪ̯nɪɡʊŋ]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17453, 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]. Reinigung is at rank #7,657, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯nɪɡʊŋ].
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 17453, this pair ranks #1,927,266 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of reinigen vs Reinigung
Shared letters: eginr. Private to "reinigen": -. Private to "Reinigung": u.
"reinigen" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC · "Reinigung" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "reinigen" for "Reinigung" ever safe?
Which is more common, "reinigen" or "Reinigung"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "reinigen" and "Reinigung" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "reinigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Reinigung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,927,266 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reinigen" and "Reinigung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reinigen 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 #1,927,266 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.