GefügevsgenügeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Gefüge is a noun, genüge is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Gefüge” is a noun and “genüge” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#29,592
“Gefüge” frequency rank
#15,896
“genüge” frequency rank
45488
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gefüge genüge
Definition Gebilde und die Art und Weise, wie es zusammenhängt 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs genügen

Where the eye mixes Gefüge and genüge

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Gefüge and genüge follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Gefüge
6 ch
genüge

Look-alike desk: Gefüge vs genüge

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gefüge is [ɡəˈfyːɡə] while genüge is [ɡəˈnyːɡə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - f in “Gefüge” becomes n in “genüge”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45488, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gefüge is recorded at frequency rank #29,592, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈfyːɡə]. genüge is at rank #15,896, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈnyːɡə].

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 45488, this pair ranks #1,351,326 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Gefüge vs genüge

Shared letters: egü. Private to "Gefüge": f. Private to "genüge": n.

"Gefüge" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "genüge" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Gefüge" and "genüge" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Gefüge" is a noun and "genüge" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Gefüge" vs "genüge" - which ranks higher?
"genüge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,896 in our German list, against #29,592 for "Gefüge". 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 "Gefüge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "genüge" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,351,326 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gefüge" and "genüge" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gefüge vs gerügt". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,351,326 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