KriegevsKriegsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,661
“Kriege” frequency rank
#10,684
“Kriegs” frequency rank
13345
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kriege Kriegs
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Krieg Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Krieg

Where the eye mixes Kriege and Kriegs

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Kriege (CCVVCV) and Kriegs (CCVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
Kriege
6 ch
Kriegs

Look-alike desk: Kriege vs Kriegs

A purely visual mix-up. Kriege ([ˈkʁiːɡə]) and Kriegs ([kʁiːks]) 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 a single letter - e in “Kriege” becomes s in “Kriegs”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13345, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kriege is recorded at frequency rank #2,661, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁiːɡə]. Kriegs is at rank #10,684, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kʁiːks].

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 13345, this pair ranks #1,958,581 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kriege vs Kriegs

Shared letters: egikr. Private to "Kriege": -. Private to "Kriegs": s.

"Kriege" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV  ·  "Kriegs" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kriegekirege · kkriege · kreige · krieeg · kriegge · krigee · krriege · rkiege
  • Kriegskiregs · kkriegs · kreigs · krieggs · kriegss · kriesg · kriges · krriegs

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Kriege" for "Kriegs" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkʁiːɡə] versus [kʁiːks]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Kriege" or "Kriegs" show up more?
"Kriege" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,661 in our German list, against #10,684 for "Kriegs". 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 "Kriege" and "Kriegs" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kriege" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kriegs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,958,581 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kriege" and "Kriegs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Knies vs Kriegs". 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 #1,958,581 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