greifevsGreisWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: greife is a verb, Greis is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“greife” is a verb and “Greis” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,911
“greife” frequency rank
#39,401
“Greis” frequency rank
58312
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature greife Greis
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs greifen sehr alter Mensch, meist Mann

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set greife and Greis apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
greife
5 ch
Greis

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: greife is [ˈɡʁaɪ̯fə] while Greis is [ɡʁaɪ̯s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58312, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

greife is recorded at frequency rank #18,911, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɡʁaɪ̯fə]. Greis is at rank #39,401, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡʁaɪ̯s].

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 58312, this pair ranks #867,664 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of greife vs Greis

Shared letters: egir. Private to "greife": f. Private to "Greis": s.

"greife" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV  ·  "Greis" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • greifegerife · ggreife · grefie · greief · greiffe · griefe · grreife · rgeife
  • Greisgeris · ggreis · greiss · gresi · grreis · rgeis

Frequency comparison

greife#18,911
Greis#39,401

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "greife" and "Greis" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "greife" is a verb and "Greis" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "greife" or "Greis"?
"greife" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,911 in our German list, against #39,401 for "Greis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering greife vs Greis

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “greife”; for a noun, it's “Greis”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “greife” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list