bishervsBissenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: bisher is a adverb, Bissen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“bisher” is an adverb and “Bissen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#464
“bisher” frequency rank
#23,060
“Bissen” frequency rank
23524
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bisher Bissen
Definition seit einem vergangenen Zeitpunkt bis zur Gegenwart die Menge einer festen Speise, die man auf einmal in den Mund nehmen beziehungsweise abbeißen kann

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set bisher and Bissen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
bisher
6 ch
Bissen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bisher is [bɪsˈheːɐ̯] while Bissen is [ˈbɪsn̩]. 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 (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23524, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bisher is recorded at frequency rank #464, classified as anadv, pronounced [bɪsˈheːɐ̯]. Bissen is at rank #23,060, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbɪsn̩].

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 23524, this pair ranks #1,860,178 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bisher vs Bissen

Shared letters: beis. Private to "bisher": hr. Private to "Bissen": n.

"bisher" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Bissen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bisherbbisher · bihser · bisehr · bisherr · bishher · bishre · bissher · bsiher
  • Bissenbbissen · bisen · bisesn · bissenn · bissne · bißen · bsisen · ibssen

Frequency comparison

bisher#464
Bissen#23,060

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bisher" and "Bissen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bisher" is an adverb and "Bissen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bisher" or "Bissen"?
"bisher" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #464 in our German list, against #23,060 for "Bissen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering bisher vs Bissen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “bisher”; for a noun, it's “Bissen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “bisher” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list