bistvsbittTell them apart

Which to use

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

#225
“bist” frequency rank
#44,494
“bitt” frequency rank
44719
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bist bitt
Definition 2. Person Singular Präsens Indikativ des Verbs sein 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bitten

Where the eye mixes bist and bitt

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

4 ch
bist
4 ch
bitt

Why the eye confuses bist with bitt

A purely visual mix-up. bist ([bɪst]) and bitt ([bɪt]) 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 a single letter - s in “bist” becomes t in “bitt”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44719, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bist is recorded at frequency rank #225, classified as averb, pronounced [bɪst]. bitt is at rank #44,494, tagged as averb, pronounced [bɪt].

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 44719, this pair ranks #1,376,942 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bist vs bitt

Shared letters: bit. Private to "bist": s. Private to "bitt": -.

"bist" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "bitt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bistbbist · bisst · bistt · bsit · ibst
  • bittbbitt · btit · ibtt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bist" and "bitt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bɪst] versus [bɪt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "bist" vs "bitt" - which ranks higher?
"bist" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #225 in our German list, against #44,494 for "bitt". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "bist" and "bitt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bist" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bitt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,376,942 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bist" and "bitt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bims vs bitt". 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 #1,376,942 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