angreifenvsangreiftTell them apart

Which to use

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

#8,329
“angreifen” frequency rank
#18,803
“angreift” frequency rank
27132
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature angreifen angreift
Definition verbal oder physisch jemanden oder etwas attackieren 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs angreifen

Where the eye mixes angreifen and angreift

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. angreifen runs 9 letters (VCCCVVCVC) against angreift's 8 (VCCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
angreifen
8 ch
angreift

Visual trap between angreifen and angreift

A purely visual mix-up. angreifen ([ˈanˌɡʁaɪ̯fn̩]) and angreift ([ˈanˌɡʁaɪ̯ft]) 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 27132, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

angreifen is recorded at frequency rank #8,329, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌɡʁaɪ̯fn̩]. angreift is at rank #18,803, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌɡʁaɪ̯ft].

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 27132, this pair ranks #1,806,834 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of angreifen vs angreift

Shared letters: aefginr. Private to "angreifen": -. Private to "angreift": t.

"angreifen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVVCVC  ·  "angreift" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • angreifen ← agnreifen · angerifen · anggreifen · angrefien · angreiefn · angreifenn · angreiffen · angreifne
  • angreift ← agnreift · angerift · anggreift · angrefit · angreifft · angreiftt · angreitf · angrieft

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "angreifen" and "angreift" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanˌɡʁaɪ̯fn̩] versus [ˈanˌɡʁaɪ̯ft]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "angreifen" or "angreift"?
"angreifen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,329 in our German list, against #18,803 for "angreift". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "angreifen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "angreift" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,806,834 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "angreifen" and "angreift" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "angreift vs aufgreift". 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 #1,806,834 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