ganzevsganzenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#299
“ganze” frequency rank
#366
“ganzen” frequency rank
665
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ganze ganzen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs ganz Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs ganz

Where the eye mixes ganze and ganzen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
ganze
6 ch
ganzen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ganze ([ˈɡant͡sə]) and ganzen ([ˈɡant͡sn̩]) 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) - “ganze” sits inside “ganzen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 665, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ganze is recorded at frequency rank #299, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡant͡sə]. ganzen is at rank #366, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡant͡sn̩].

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 665, this pair ranks #2,005,533 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ganze vs ganzen

Shared letters: aegnz. Private to "ganze": -. Private to "ganzen": -.

"ganze" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "ganzen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ganzeagnze · ganez · gannze · ganzze · gazne · gganze · gnaze
  • ganzenagnzen · ganezn · gannzen · ganzenn · ganzne · ganzzen · gaznen · gganzen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ganze" and "ganzen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡant͡sə] versus [ˈɡant͡sn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ganze" or "ganzen"?
"ganze" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #299 in our German list, against #366 for "ganzen". 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 "ganze" and "ganzen". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ganze" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ganzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,005,533 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ganze" and "ganzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ganzen vs glänzten". 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