RemsvsRiesWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Rems is a name, Ries is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Rems” is a name and “Ries” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#33,782
“Rems” frequency rank
#22,483
“Ries” frequency rank
56265
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Rems Ries
Definition rechter Zufluss des Neckar eine Mengeneinheit für Papierbogen, historisch und je nach Papiersorte unterschiedlich definiert, meist 500 Bogen

Where the eye mixes Rems and Ries

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Rems
4 ch
Ries

Why the eye confuses Rems with Ries

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Rems is [ʁɛms] while Ries is [ʁiːs]. 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 (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56265, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Rems is recorded at frequency rank #33,782, classified as aname, pronounced [ʁɛms]. Ries is at rank #22,483, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʁiːs].

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 56265, this pair ranks #946,961 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Rems vs Ries

Shared letters: ers. Private to "Rems": m. Private to "Ries": i.

"Rems" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Ries" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Remserms · remms · remss · resm · rmes · rrems
  • Riesires · riess · rries

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Rems" and "Ries" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Rems" is a name and "Ries" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Rems" vs "Ries" - which ranks higher?
"Ries" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,483 in our German list, against #33,782 for "Rems". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Rems" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ries" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #946,961 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Rems" and "Ries" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Rems vs Remus". 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 #946,961 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