gelassenvsGewässerWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,203
“gelassen” frequency rank
#9,559
“Gewässer” frequency rank
11762
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gelassen Gewässer
Definition ruhig – meist trotz nervöser Atmosphäre; nicht beeindruckt ein von stehendem oder fließendem Wasser bedeckter Teil der Erdoberfläche

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gelassen and Gewässer apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
gelassen
8 ch
Gewässer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gelassen is [ɡəˈlasn̩] while Gewässer is [ɡəˈvɛsɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 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 11762, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gelassen is recorded at frequency rank #2,203, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈlasn̩]. Gewässer is at rank #9,559, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈvɛsɐ].

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 11762, this pair ranks #1,968,049 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gelassen vs Gewässer

Shared letters: egs. Private to "gelassen": aln. Private to "Gewässer": rwä.

"gelassen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "Gewässer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gelasseneglassen · gealssen · gelasen · gelasesn · gelassenn · gelassne · gelaßen · gellassen

Frequency comparison

gelassen#2,203
Gewässer#9,559

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gelassen" and "Gewässer" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gelassen" is an adjective and "Gewässer" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gelassen" or "Gewässer"?
"gelassen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,203 in our German list, against #9,559 for "Gewässer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering gelassen vs Gewässer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “gelassen”; for a noun, it's “Gewässer”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gelassen” 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