Which to use
“Bitte” is a noun and “bitter” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #183
- “Bitte” frequency rank
- #6,281
- “bitter” frequency rank
- 6464
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Bitte | bitter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | höfliche Ausdrucksform eines Wunsches, einer Aufforderung, eines Ersuchens | einen besonders herben Geschmack habend, der oft als unangenehm wahrgenommen wird |
Where the eye mixes Bitte and bitter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Bitte vs bitter
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Bitte is [ˈbɪtə] while bitter is [ˈbɪtɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Bitte” sits inside “bitter”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6464, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Bitte is recorded at frequency rank #183, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbɪtə]. bitter is at rank #6,281, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈbɪtɐ].
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 6464, this pair ranks #1,991,554 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Bitte vs bitter
Shared letters: beit. Private to "Bitte": -. Private to "bitter": r.
"Bitte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "bitter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Bitte" for "bitter" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Bitte" vs "bitter" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Bitte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bitter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,991,554 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Bitte" and "bitter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "battery vs bitter". 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 #1,991,554 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.