kreisenvskreistWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,195
“kreisen” frequency rank
#33,686
“kreist” frequency rank
38881
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kreisen kreist
Definition sich kreisförmig um etwas bewegen 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kreisen

Where the eye mixes kreisen and kreist

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

7 ch
kreisen
6 ch
kreist

Visual trap between kreisen and kreist

A purely visual mix-up. kreisen ([ˈkʁaɪ̯zn̩]) and kreist ([kʁaɪ̯st]) 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 38881, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kreisen is recorded at frequency rank #5,195, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkʁaɪ̯zn̩]. kreist is at rank #33,686, tagged as averb, pronounced [kʁaɪ̯st].

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 38881, this pair ranks #1,552,169 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kreisen vs kreist

Shared letters: eikrs. Private to "kreisen": n. Private to "kreist": t.

"kreisen" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "kreist" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kreisenkerisen · kkreisen · kreiesn · kreisenn · kreisne · kreissen · kresien · kriesen
  • kreistkerist · kkreist · kreisst · kreistt · kreits · kresit · kriest · krreist

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "kreisen" for "kreist" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkʁaɪ̯zn̩] versus [kʁaɪ̯st]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "kreisen" vs "kreist" - which ranks higher?
"kreisen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,195 in our German list, against #33,686 for "kreist". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kreisen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kreist" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,552,169 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kreisen" and "kreist" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Krebse vs kreist". 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 #1,552,169 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