Which to use
“greife” and “griffe” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,911
- “greife” frequency rank
- #32,574
- “griffe” frequency rank
- 51485
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | greife | griffe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs greifen | 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv II Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs greifen |
Where the eye mixes greife and griffe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. greife (CCVVCV) and griffe (CCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: greife vs griffe
A purely visual mix-up. greife ([ˈɡʁaɪ̯fə]) and griffe ([ˈɡʁɪfə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51485, 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]. griffe is at rank #32,574, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɡʁɪfə].
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 51485, this pair ranks #1,133,770 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of greife vs griffe
Shared letters: efgir. Private to "greife": -. Private to "griffe": -.
"greife" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV · "griffe" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "greife" and "griffe" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "greife" or "griffe" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "greife" and "griffe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "greife" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "griffe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,133,770 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "greife" and "griffe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "griffe vs Grille". 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 #1,133,770 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.