Which to use
“Reich” is a noun and “reist” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,019
- “Reich” frequency rank
- #7,803
- “reist” frequency rank
- 8822
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Reich | reist |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Land, Gruppe von Ländern, Ländereien, die von einem Monarchen (König, Kaiser, Zar) oder anderem Herrscher regiert werden | 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs reisen |
Where the eye mixes Reich and reist
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Reich and reist follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses Reich with reist
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Reich is [ʁaɪ̯ç] while reist is [ʁaɪ̯st]. 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 8822, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Reich is recorded at frequency rank #1,019, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʁaɪ̯ç]. reist is at rank #7,803, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʁaɪ̯st].
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 8822, this pair ranks #1,982,666 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Reich vs reist
Shared letters: eir. Private to "Reich": ch. Private to "reist": st.
"Reich" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "reist" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Reich" and "reist" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "Reich" or "reist" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Reich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "reist" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,982,666 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Reich" and "reist" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "regst vs reist". 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 #1,982,666 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.