Which to use
“Biss” is a noun and “bist” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,867
- “Biss” frequency rank
- #225
- “bist” frequency rank
- 10092
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Biss | bist |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | der Vorgang des Beißens | 2. Person Singular Präsens Indikativ des Verbs sein |
Where the eye mixes Biss and bist
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Biss vs bist
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Biss is [bɪs] while bist is [bɪst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - s in “Biss” becomes t in “bist”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10092, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Biss is recorded at frequency rank #9,867, classified as anoun, pronounced [bɪs]. bist is at rank #225, tagged as averb, pronounced [bɪst].
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 10092, this pair ranks #1,976,843 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Biss vs bist
Shared letters: bis. Private to "Biss": -. Private to "bist": t.
"Biss" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "bist" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Biss" for "bist" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Biss" or "bist" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Biss" and "bist" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Biss" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bist" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,976,843 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Biss" and "bist" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Biss vs Bussi". 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 #1,976,843 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.