n-Gram
Definition
An n-gram consists of a specific number of consecutive elements.
A contiguous sequence of n tokens, characters, or other discrete elements.
Simply explained
For words, a bigram is a pair of words and a trigram is a sequence of three words.
Why it matters in practice
Helps realistically assess model quality, limits, and technical decisions.
Example from business
Possible example: From "Wir liefern morgen" arise the word pairs "Wir liefern" and "liefern morgen" as well as a trigram from all the words.
Limits and pitfalls
- Ignore tokenization, sentence boundaries, and data scarcity or equate n-grams with semantics.
Origin & history
N-grams are a fundamental building block of classical language models and text analysis.
Use in mid-sized companies
- Possible application: A bigram considers word pairs, a trigram sequences of three.
Frequently asked questions
What does n-gram mean?
A contiguous sequence of n tokens, characters, or other discrete elements.
Which mistakes should be avoided?
Ignore tokenization, sentence boundaries, and data scarcity or equate n-grams with semantics.
Sources
Source checked on 10.10.2026. Editorial application examples are hypothetical; no evidence of real customer results.
Editorially reviewed on: