threevsTürenTell them apart

Quick tell: three is a num, Türen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“three” is a num and “Türen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,431
“three” frequency rank
#3,283
“Türen” frequency rank
17714
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature three Türen
Definition drei Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Tür

Where the eye mixes three and Türen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
three
5 ch
Türen

Why the eye confuses three with Türen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: three is [θɹiː] while Türen is [ˈtyːʁən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17714, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

three is recorded at frequency rank #14,431, classified as anum, pronounced [θɹiː]. Türen is at rank #3,283, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈtyːʁən].

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 17714, this pair ranks #1,924,958 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of three vs Türen

Shared letters: ert. Private to "three": h. Private to "Türen": .

"three" · 5 letters · shape CCCVV  ·  "Türen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • threehtree · thhree · thre · thrree · trhee · tthree

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "three" for "Türen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "three" is a num and "Türen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "three" or "Türen"?
"Türen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,283 in our German list, against #14,431 for "three". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "three" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Türen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,924,958 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "three" and "Türen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "three vs trees". 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 #1,924,958 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