gereiztvsgreiftTell them apart

Which to use

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

#17,593
“gereizt” frequency rank
#3,126
“greift” frequency rank
20719
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gereizt greift
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs reizen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs greifen

Where the eye mixes gereizt and greift

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. gereizt runs 7 letters (CVCVVCC) against greift's 6 (CCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
gereizt
6 ch
greift

Why the eye confuses gereizt with greift

A purely visual mix-up. gereizt ([ɡəˈʁaɪ̯t͡st]) and greift ([ɡʁaɪ̯ft]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20719, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gereizt is recorded at frequency rank #17,593, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈʁaɪ̯t͡st]. greift is at rank #3,126, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡʁaɪ̯ft].

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 20719, this pair ranks #1,894,536 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gereizt vs greift

Shared letters: egirt. Private to "gereizt": z. Private to "greift": f.

"gereizt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC  ·  "greift" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gereiztegreizt · geerizt · gereitz · gereiztt · gereizzt · gerezit · geriezt · gerreizt
  • greiftgerift · ggreift · grefit · greifft · greiftt · greitf · grieft · grreift

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gereizt" and "greift" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈʁaɪ̯t͡st] versus [ɡʁaɪ̯ft]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gereizt" or "greift"?
"greift" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,126 in our German list, against #17,593 for "gereizt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "gereizt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "greift" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,894,536 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gereizt" and "greift" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gefeit vs gereizt". 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 #1,894,536 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