ReiternvsRitternTell them apart

Which to use

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

#31,753
“Reitern” frequency rank
#35,417
“Rittern” frequency rank
67170
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Reitern Rittern
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Reiter Dativ Plural des Substantivs Ritter

Where the eye mixes Reitern and Rittern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Reitern
7 ch
Rittern

Why the eye confuses Reitern with Rittern

A purely visual mix-up. Reitern ([ˈʁaɪ̯tɐn]) and Rittern ([ˈʁɪtɐn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67170, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Reitern is recorded at frequency rank #31,753, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯tɐn]. Rittern is at rank #35,417, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁɪtɐn].

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 67170, this pair ranks #548,998 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Reitern vs Rittern

Shared letters: einrt. Private to "Reitern": -. Private to "Rittern": -.

"Reitern" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC  ·  "Rittern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Reiterneritern · reietrn · reitenr · reiternn · reiterrn · reitren · reittern · retiern
  • Ritternirttern · ritern · ritetrn · rittenr · ritternn · ritterrn · rittren · rrittern

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Reitern" for "Rittern" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁaɪ̯tɐn] versus [ˈʁɪtɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Reitern" or "Rittern"?
"Reitern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,753 in our German list, against #35,417 for "Rittern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Reitern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Rittern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #548,998 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Reitern" and "Rittern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Reiterin vs Reitern". 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 #548,998 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