externervsexternesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#23,926
“externer” frequency rank
#46,630
“externes” frequency rank
70556
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature externer externes
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs extern Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs extern

Where the eye mixes externer and externes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
externer
8 ch
externes

Look-alike desk: externer vs externes

A purely visual mix-up. externer ([ˌɛksˈtɛʁnɐ]) 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 a single letter - r in “externer” becomes s in “externes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70556, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

externer is recorded at frequency rank #23,926, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˌɛksˈtɛʁnɐ]. 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 70556, this pair ranks #442,766 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of externer vs externes

Shared letters: enrtx. Private to "externer": -. Private to "externes": s.

"externer" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "externes" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • externeretxerner · exetrner · extenrer · exterenr · externerr · externner · externre · exterrner
  • externesetxernes · exetrnes · extenres · exterens · externess · externnes · externse · exterrnes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "externer" and "externes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˌɛksˈtɛʁnɐ] versus [ˌɛksˈtɛʁnəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "externer" vs "externes" - which ranks higher?
"externer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,926 in our German list, against #46,630 for "externes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "externer" 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 #442,766 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "externer" and "externes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "extern vs externes". 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 #442,766 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