PressevspresstWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Presse is a noun, presst is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Presse” is a noun and “presst” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,780
“Presse” frequency rank
#48,395
“presst” frequency rank
50175
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Presse presst
Definition Gerät, das zum Pressen dient 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs pressen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Presse and presst apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Presse
6 ch
presst

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Presse is [ˈpʁɛsə] while presst is [pʁɛst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “Presse” becomes t in “presst”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50175, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Presse is recorded at frequency rank #1,780, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpʁɛsə]. presst is at rank #48,395, tagged as averb, pronounced [pʁɛst].

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 50175, this pair ranks #1,183,749 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Presse vs presst

Shared letters: eprs. Private to "Presse": -. Private to "presst": t.

"Presse" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "presst" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pressepersse · ppresse · prese · preses · preße · prresse · prsese · rpesse
  • presstpersst · ppresst · presstt · prest · prests · preßt · prresst · prsest

Frequency comparison

Presse#1,780
presst#48,395

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Presse" and "presst" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Presse" is a noun and "presst" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Presse" or "presst"?
"Presse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,780 in our German list, against #48,395 for "presst". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Presse vs presst

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Presse”; for a verb, it's “presst”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Presse” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list