ReiservsReiternWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#36,587
“Reiser” frequency rank
#31,753
“Reitern” frequency rank
68340
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Reiser Reitern
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Reis Dativ Plural des Substantivs Reiter

Where the eye mixes Reiser and Reitern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Reiser runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against Reitern's 7 (CVVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Reiser
7 ch
Reitern

Look-alike desk: Reiser vs Reitern

A purely visual mix-up. Reiser ([ˈʁaɪ̯zɐ]) and Reitern ([ˈʁaɪ̯tɐn]) 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 68340, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Reiser is recorded at frequency rank #36,587, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯zɐ]. Reitern is at rank #31,753, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯tɐn].

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 68340, this pair ranks #510,947 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Reiser vs Reitern

Shared letters: eir. Private to "Reiser": s. Private to "Reitern": nt.

"Reiser" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Reitern" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Reiser ← eriser · reiesr · reiserr · reisre · reisser · resier · rieser · rreiser
  • Reitern ← eritern · reietrn · reitenr · reiternn · reiterrn · reitren · reittern · retiern

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Reiser" and "Reitern" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁaɪ̯zɐ] versus [ˈʁaɪ̯tɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Reiser" vs "Reitern" - which ranks higher?
"Reitern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,753 in our German list, against #36,587 for "Reiser". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Reiser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Reitern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #510,947 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Reiser" and "Reitern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reibe vs Reiser". 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 #510,947 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