Which to use
“extern” and “externes” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,863
- “extern” frequency rank
- #46,630
- “externes” frequency rank
- 73493
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | extern | externes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | außerhalb eines bestimmten implizit mitdefinierten Bezugsystems | Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs extern |
Where the eye mixes extern and externes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between extern and externes
A purely visual mix-up. extern ([ˌɛksˈtɛʁn]) and externes ([ˌɛksˈtɛʁnəs]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “extern” sits inside “externes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73493, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
extern is recorded at frequency rank #26,863, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˌɛksˈtɛʁn]. externes is at rank #46,630, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌɛksˈtɛʁnəs].
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 73493, this pair ranks #358,881 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of extern vs externes
Shared letters: enrtx. Private to "extern": -. Private to "externes": s.
"extern" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC · "externes" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "extern" for "externes" ever safe?
Frequency check: "extern" vs "externes" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "extern" and "externes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "extern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "externes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #358,881 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "extern" and "externes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Exoten vs extern". 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 #358,881 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.