brutalevsbrutalerConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#15,323
“brutale” frequency rank
#22,661
“brutaler” frequency rank
37984
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature brutale brutaler
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs brutal Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs brutal

Where the eye mixes brutale and brutaler

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. brutale runs 7 letters (CCVCVCV) against brutaler's 8 (CCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
brutale
8 ch
brutaler

Visual trap between brutale and brutaler

A purely visual mix-up. brutale ([bʁuˈtaːlə]) and brutaler ([bʁuˈtaːlɐ]) 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 extra letter(s) - “brutale” sits inside “brutaler”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37984, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

brutale is recorded at frequency rank #15,323, classified as anadj, pronounced [bʁuˈtaːlə]. brutaler is at rank #22,661, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bʁuˈtaːlɐ].

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 37984, this pair ranks #1,575,921 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of brutale vs brutaler

Shared letters: abelrtu. Private to "brutale": -. Private to "brutaler": -.

"brutale" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "brutaler" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • brutale ← bbrutale · brrutale · brtuale · bruatle · brutael · brutalle · brutlae · bruttale
  • brutaler ← bbrutaler · brrutaler · brtualer · bruatler · brutaelr · brutalerr · brutaller · brutalre

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "brutale" and "brutaler" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([bʁuˈtaːlə] versus [bʁuˈtaːlɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "brutale" or "brutaler"?
"brutale" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,323 in our German list, against #22,661 for "brutaler". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "brutale" and "brutaler" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "brutale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "brutaler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,575,921 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "brutale" and "brutaler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "brutalen vs brutaler". 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 #1,575,921 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