gemvsGodConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#10,663
“gem” frequency rank
#12,503
“God” frequency rank
23166
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gem God
Definition Edelstein Gott in Sinne des einen monotheistischen Gottes

Where the eye mixes gem and God

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
gem
3 ch
God

Visual trap between gem and God

A purely visual mix-up. gem ([dʒɛm]) and God ([ɡɒd]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23166, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gem is recorded at frequency rank #10,663, classified as anoun, pronounced [dʒɛm]. God is at rank #12,503, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡɒd].

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 23166, this pair ranks #1,864,931 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gem vs God

Shared letters: g. Private to "gem": em. Private to "God": do.

"gem" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "God" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gem" for "God" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([dʒɛm] versus [ɡɒd]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gem" vs "God" - which ranks higher?
"gem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,663 in our German list, against #12,503 for "God". 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 "gem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "God" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,864,931 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gem" and "God" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gao vs God". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,864,931 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