PisvsPreisWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,949
“Pis” frequency rank
#604
“Preis” frequency rank
39553
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pis Preis
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Pi beim Erwerb einer Ware oder Dienstleistung zu zahlender Geldbetrag

Where the eye mixes Pis and Preis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

3 ch
Pis
5 ch
Preis

Why the eye confuses Pis with Preis

A purely visual mix-up. Pis ([piːs]) and Preis ([pʁaɪ̯s]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39553, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pis is recorded at frequency rank #38,949, classified as anoun, pronounced [piːs]. Preis is at rank #604, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pʁaɪ̯s].

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 39553, this pair ranks #1,533,584 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Pis vs Preis

Shared letters: ips. Private to "Pis": -. Private to "Preis": er.

"Pis" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Preis" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Preisperis · ppreis · preiss · presi · prreis · rpeis

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Pis" and "Preis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([piːs] versus [pʁaɪ̯s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Pis" vs "Preis" - which ranks higher?
"Preis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #604 in our German list, against #38,949 for "Pis". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Pis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Preis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,533,584 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pis" and "Preis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Pis vs PMS". 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 #1,533,584 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