extremenvsextremesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,858
“extremen” frequency rank
#43,858
“extremes” frequency rank
52716
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature extremen extremes
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs extrem Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs extrem

Where the eye mixes extremen and extremes

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

8 ch
extremen
8 ch
extremes

Look-alike desk: extremen vs extremes

A purely visual mix-up. extremen ([ɛksˈtʁeːmən]) and extremes ([ɛksˈtʁeːməs]) 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 - n in “extremen” becomes s in “extremes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52716, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

extremen is recorded at frequency rank #8,858, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛksˈtʁeːmən]. extremes is at rank #43,858, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛksˈtʁeːməs].

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 52716, this pair ranks #1,086,029 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of extremen vs extremes

Shared letters: emrtx. Private to "extremen": n. Private to "extremes": s.

"extremen" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC  ·  "extremes" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • extremenetxremen · exrtemen · extermen · extreemn · extremenn · extremmen · extremne · extrmeen
  • extremesetxremes · exrtemes · extermes · extreems · extremess · extremmes · extremse · extrmees

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "extremen" for "extremes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɛksˈtʁeːmən] versus [ɛksˈtʁeːməs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "extremen" or "extremes" show up more?
"extremen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,858 in our German list, against #43,858 for "extremes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "extremen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "extremes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,086,029 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "extremen" and "extremes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "extremer vs extremes". 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 #1,086,029 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