präzisevsPriseTell them apart

Quick tell: präzise is a adjective, Prise is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“präzise” is an adjective and “Prise” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,438
“präzise” frequency rank
#20,376
“Prise” frequency rank
29814
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature präzise Prise
Definition ganz genau Menge eines feinkörnigen Materials, die ein Mensch zwischen zwei (drei) Fingern aufnehmen kann

Where the eye mixes präzise and Prise

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

7 ch
präzise
5 ch
Prise

Why the eye confuses präzise with Prise

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: präzise is [pʁɛˈt͡siːzə] while Prise is [ˈpʁiːzə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29814, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

präzise is recorded at frequency rank #9,438, classified as anadj, pronounced [pʁɛˈt͡siːzə]. Prise is at rank #20,376, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpʁiːzə].

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 29814, this pair ranks #1,759,777 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of präzise vs Prise

Shared letters: eiprs. Private to "präzise": zä. Private to "Prise": -.

"präzise" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "Prise" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Prise ← pirse · pprise · prisse · prrise · prsie · rpise

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "präzise" and "Prise" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "präzise" is an adjective and "Prise" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "präzise" or "Prise" show up more?
"präzise" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,438 in our German list, against #20,376 for "Prise". 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 "präzise" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Prise" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,759,777 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "präzise" and "Prise" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Prise vs pros". 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 #1,759,777 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