gehtsvsgensWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: gehts is a abbrev, gens is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gehts” is an abbrev and “gens” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,190
“gehts” frequency rank
#36,355
“gens” frequency rank
39545
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gehts gens
Definition geht es Menschen im Allgemeinen oder ein Gruppe von Menschen (meist unbestimmter Zahl); Leute

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gehts and gens apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
gehts
4 ch
gens

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gehts is [ɡeːt͡s] while gens is [ʒã]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (abbrev vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39545, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gehts is recorded at frequency rank #3,190, classified as anabbrev, pronounced [ɡeːt͡s]. gens is at rank #36,355, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʒã].

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 39545, this pair ranks #1,533,794 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gehts vs gens

Shared letters: egs. Private to "gehts": ht. Private to "gens": n.

"gehts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "gens" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gehtseghts · gehhts · gehtss · gehtts · geths · ggehts · ghets
  • gensegns · genns · genss · gesn · ggens · gnes

Frequency comparison

gehts#3,190
gens#36,355

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gehts" and "gens" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gehts" is an abbrev and "gens" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gehts" or "gens"?
"gehts" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,190 in our German list, against #36,355 for "gens". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering gehts vs gens

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an abbrev, it's “gehts”; for a noun, it's “gens”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gehts” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list