kreischenvskritischenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: kreischen is a verb, kritischen is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“kreischen” is a verb and “kritischen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,141
“kreischen” frequency rank
#5,731
“kritischen” frequency rank
36872
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kreischen kritischen
Definition einen Schrei mit lauter, hoher Stimme ausstoßen Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kritisch

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set kreischen and kritischen apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
kreischen
10 ch
kritischen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kreischen is [ˈkʁaɪ̯ʃn̩] while kritischen is [ˈkʁiːtɪʃn̩]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36872, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kreischen is recorded at frequency rank #31,141, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkʁaɪ̯ʃn̩]. kritischen is at rank #5,731, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkʁiːtɪʃn̩].

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 36872, this pair ranks #1,604,569 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kreischen vs kritischen

Shared letters: cehiknrs. Private to "kreischen": -. Private to "kritischen": t.

"kreischen" · 9 letters · shape CCVVCCCVC  ·  "kritischen" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kreischenkerischen · kkreischen · kreicshen · kreiscchen · kreiscehn · kreischenn · kreischhen · kreischne
  • kritischenkirtischen · kkritischen · kriitschen · kriticshen · kritiscchen · kritiscehn · kritischenn · kritischhen

Frequency comparison

kreischen#31,141
kritischen#5,731

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kreischen" and "kritischen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kreischen" is a verb and "kritischen" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "kreischen" or "kritischen"?
"kritischen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,731 in our German list, against #31,141 for "kreischen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering kreischen vs kritischen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “kreischen”; for an adjective, it's “kritischen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “kreischen” 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