geilvsgensWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,729
“geil” frequency rank
#36,355
“gens” frequency rank
38084
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature geil gens
Definition auf sexuelle Weise erregt, sexuell fordernd, jemanden sexuell attraktiv findend 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 geil and gens apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
geil
4 ch
gens

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: geil is [ɡaɪ̯l] while gens is [ʒã]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38084, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

geil is recorded at frequency rank #1,729, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡaɪ̯l]. 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 38084, this pair ranks #1,573,228 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of geil vs gens

Shared letters: eg. Private to "geil": il. Private to "gens": ns.

"geil" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "gens" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • geilegil · geill · geli · ggeil · giel
  • gensegns · genns · genss · gesn · ggens · gnes

Frequency comparison

geil#1,729
gens#36,355

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "geil" and "gens" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "geil" is an adjective and "gens" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "geil" or "gens"?
"geil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,729 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 geil vs gens

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “geil”; for a noun, it's “gens”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “geil” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list