Which to use
“gebissen” is a verb and “gerissen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,553
- “gebissen” frequency rank
- #6,661
- “gerissen” frequency rank
- 25214
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gebissen | gerissen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | [1] Partizip Perfekt des Verbs beißen | auf unsympathische Weise schlau, geschäftstüchtig |
Where the eye mixes gebissen and gerissen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. gebissen and gerissen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between gebissen and gerissen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gebissen is [ɡəˈbɪsn̩] while gerissen is [ɡəˈʁɪsn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - b in “gebissen” becomes r in “gerissen”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25214, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gebissen is recorded at frequency rank #18,553, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈbɪsn̩]. gerissen is at rank #6,661, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʁɪsn̩].
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 25214, this pair ranks #1,836,475 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gebissen vs gerissen
Shared letters: egins. Private to "gebissen": b. Private to "gerissen": r.
"gebissen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "gerissen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gebissen" for "gerissen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "gebissen" or "gerissen" show up more?
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 "gebissen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gerissen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,836,475 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gebissen" and "gerissen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gebissen vs gewiesen". 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 #1,836,475 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.