geisteskrankvsgeisteskrankeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,566
“geisteskrank” frequency rank
#48,171
“geisteskranke” frequency rank
79737
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature geisteskrank geisteskranke
Definition geistig behindert Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs geisteskrank

Where the eye mixes geisteskrank and geisteskranke

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence.

12 ch
geisteskrank
13 ch
geisteskranke

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. geisteskrank ([ˈɡaɪ̯stəsˌkʁaŋk]) and geisteskranke ([ˈɡaɪ̯stəsˌkʁaŋkə]) 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) - “geisteskrank” sits inside “geisteskranke”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79737, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

geisteskrank is recorded at frequency rank #31,566, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡaɪ̯stəsˌkʁaŋk]. geisteskranke is at rank #48,171, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡaɪ̯stəsˌkʁaŋkə].

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 79737, this pair ranks #210,162 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of geisteskrank vs geisteskranke

Shared letters: aegiknrst. Private to "geisteskrank": -. Private to "geisteskranke": -.

"geisteskrank" · 12 letters · shape CVVCCVCCCVCC  ·  "geisteskranke" · 13 letters · shape CVVCCVCCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • geisteskrankegisteskrank · geisetskrank · geissteskrank · geisteksrank · geisteskarnk · geisteskkrank · geisteskrakn · geisteskrankk
  • geisteskrankeegisteskranke · geisetskranke · geissteskranke · geisteksranke · geisteskarnke · geisteskkranke · geisteskrakne · geisteskranek

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "geisteskrank" and "geisteskranke" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡaɪ̯stəsˌkʁaŋk] versus [ˈɡaɪ̯stəsˌkʁaŋkə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "geisteskrank" or "geisteskranke"?
"geisteskrank" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,566 in our German list, against #48,171 for "geisteskranke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list