KreditvsKreisWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,717
“Kredit” frequency rank
#861
“Kreis” frequency rank
5578
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kredit Kreis
Definition meist gegen Zahlung von Zinsen zur Verfügung gestelltes fremdes Kapital geometrischer Ort aller Punkte, die von einem gegebenen Punkt, dem (Kreis-)Mittelpunkt, den gleichen Abstand haben, genannt (Kreis-)Radius

Where the eye mixes Kredit and Kreis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Kredit runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against Kreis's 5 (CCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Kredit
5 ch
Kreis

Why the eye confuses Kredit with Kreis

A purely visual mix-up. Kredit ([kʁeˈdiːt]) and Kreis ([kʁaɪ̯s]) 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 5578, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kredit is recorded at frequency rank #4,717, classified as anoun, pronounced [kʁeˈdiːt]. Kreis is at rank #861, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kʁaɪ̯s].

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 5578, this pair ranks #1,994,339 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kredit vs Kreis

Shared letters: eikr. Private to "Kredit": dt. Private to "Kreis": s.

"Kredit" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "Kreis" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kredit ← kerdit · kkredit · krdeit · kreddit · kreditt · kredti · kreidt · krredit
  • Kreis ← keris · kkreis · kreiss · kresi · kries · krreis · rkeis

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kredit" and "Kreis" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kʁeˈdiːt] versus [kʁaɪ̯s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Kredit" or "Kreis"?
"Kreis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #861 in our German list, against #4,717 for "Kredit". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Kredit" and "Kreis" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kredit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kreis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,994,339 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kredit" and "Kreis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kredit vs Kredits". 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 #1,994,339 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