PrisevsprüfeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#20,376
“Prise” frequency rank
#23,670
“prüfe” frequency rank
44046
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Prise prüfe
Definition Menge eines feinkörnigen Materials, die ein Mensch zwischen zwei (drei) Fingern aufnehmen kann 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs prüfen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Prise and prüfe apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Prise
5 ch
prüfe

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Prise is [ˈpʁiːzə] while prüfe is [ˈpʁyːfə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44046, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Prise is recorded at frequency rank #20,376, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpʁiːzə]. prüfe is at rank #23,670, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpʁyːfə].

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 44046, this pair ranks #1,398,781 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Prise vs prüfe

Shared letters: epr. Private to "Prise": is. Private to "prüfe": .

"Prise" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "prüfe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Prisepirse · pprise · prisse · prrise · prsie · rpise

Frequency comparison

Prise#20,376
prüfe#23,670

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Prise" and "prüfe" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Prise" is a noun and "prüfe" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Prise" or "prüfe"?
"Prise" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,376 in our German list, against #23,670 for "prüfe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Prise vs prüfe

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Prise”; for a verb, it's “prüfe”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Prise” 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