reichenvsreitenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,568
“reichen” frequency rank
#5,755
“reiten” frequency rank
7323
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reichen reiten
Definition jemandem etwas geben sich auf dem Rücken eines Reittieres (besonders eines Pferdes) befinden und sich mit dessen Hilfe fortbewegen

Where the eye mixes reichen and reiten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
reichen
6 ch
reiten

Why the eye confuses reichen with reiten

A purely visual mix-up. reichen ([ˈʁaɪ̯çn̩]) and reiten ([ˈʁaɪ̯tn̩]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7323, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reichen is recorded at frequency rank #1,568, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯çn̩]. reiten is at rank #5,755, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯tn̩].

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 7323, this pair ranks #1,988,578 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of reichen vs reiten

Shared letters: einr. Private to "reichen": ch. Private to "reiten": t.

"reichen" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "reiten" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reichenerichen · recihen · reicchen · reicehn · reichenn · reichhen · reichne · reihcen
  • reiteneriten · reietn · reitenn · reitne · reitten · retien · rieten · rreiten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "reichen" and "reiten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁaɪ̯çn̩] versus [ˈʁaɪ̯tn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "reichen" vs "reiten" - which ranks higher?
"reichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,568 in our German list, against #5,755 for "reiten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "reichen" and "reiten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "reichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reiten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,988,578 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "reichen" and "reiten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reiten vs Reiterin". 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 #1,988,578 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