gamevsgeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: game is a verb, ge is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“game” is a verb and “ge” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,119
“game” frequency rank
#4,347
“ge” frequency rank
7466
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature game ge
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs gamen unbetonte Form des Personalpronomens gij (Subjektform der zweiten Person Singular): du

Where the eye mixes game and ge

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
game
2 ch
ge

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: game is [ˈɡeːmə] while ge is [ɣə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7466, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

game is recorded at frequency rank #3,119, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɡeːmə]. ge is at rank #4,347, tagged as apron, pronounced [ɣə].

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 7466, this pair ranks #1,988,057 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of game vs ge

Shared letters: eg. Private to "game": am. Private to "ge": -.

"game" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "ge" · 2 letters · shape CV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gameagme · gaem · gamme · ggame · gmae

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "game" and "ge" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "game" is a verb and "ge" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "game" or "ge"?
"game" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,119 in our German list, against #4,347 for "ge". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "game" and "ge". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "game" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ge" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,988,057 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "game" and "ge" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gao vs ge". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list