reichstenvsreichtenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: reichsten is a adjective, reichten is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“reichsten” is an adjective and “reichten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,907
“reichsten” frequency rank
#16,527
“reichten” frequency rank
31434
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reichsten reichten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Superlativs des Adjektivs reich 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs reichen

Where the eye mixes reichsten and reichten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. reichsten runs 9 letters (CVVCCCCVC) against reichten's 8 (CVVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
reichsten
8 ch
reichten

Look-alike desk: reichsten vs reichten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reichsten is [ˈʁaɪ̯çstn̩] while reichten is [ˈʁaɪ̯çtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31434, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reichsten is recorded at frequency rank #14,907, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯çstn̩]. reichten is at rank #16,527, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯çtn̩].

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 31434, this pair ranks #1,728,157 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of reichsten vs reichten

Shared letters: cehinrt. Private to "reichsten": s. Private to "reichten": -.

"reichsten" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCCCVC  ·  "reichten" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reichstenerichsten · recihsten · reicchsten · reichhsten · reichsetn · reichssten · reichstenn · reichstne
  • reichtenrecihten · reicchten · reichetn · reichhten · reichtenn · reichtne · reichtten · reicthen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "reichsten" and "reichten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "reichsten" is an adjective and "reichten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "reichsten" vs "reichten" - which ranks higher?
"reichsten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,907 in our German list, against #16,527 for "reichten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "reichsten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reichten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,728,157 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "reichsten" and "reichten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reichten vs reinsten". 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 #1,728,157 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