RissevsRussenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#13,680
“Risse” frequency rank
#3,681
“Russen” frequency rank
17361
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Risse Russen
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Riss Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Russe

Where the eye mixes Risse and Russen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Risse
6 ch
Russen

Look-alike desk: Risse vs Russen

A purely visual mix-up. Risse ([ˈʁɪsə]) and Russen ([ˈʁʊsn̩]) 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 17361, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Risse is recorded at frequency rank #13,680, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁɪsə]. Russen is at rank #3,681, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁʊsn̩].

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 17361, this pair ranks #1,928,060 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Risse vs Russen

Shared letters: ers. Private to "Risse": i. Private to "Russen": nu.

"Risse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Russen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Risseirsse · rise · rises · riße · rrisse · rsise
  • Russenrrussen · rsusen · rusen · rusesn · russenn · russne · rußen · urssen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Risse" for "Russen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁɪsə] versus [ˈʁʊsn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Risse" vs "Russen" - which ranks higher?
"Russen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,681 in our German list, against #13,680 for "Risse". 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 "Risse" and "Russen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Risse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Russen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,928,060 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Risse" and "Russen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Risse vs russo". 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 #1,928,060 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