Which to use
“gem” is a noun and “gut” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,663
- “gem” frequency rank
- #89
- “gut” frequency rank
- 10752
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gem | gut |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Edelstein | vom Menschen her positiv bewertet, empfunden, gefühlt und dergleichen |
Where the eye mixes gem and gut
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: gem vs gut
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gem is [dʒɛm] while gut is [ɡuːt]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10752, 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]. gut is at rank #89, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡuːt].
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 10752, this pair ranks #1,973,508 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gem vs gut
Shared letters: g. Private to "gem": em. Private to "gut": tu.
"gem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "gut" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gem" for "gut" ever safe?
Frequency check: "gem" vs "gut" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "gem" and "gut" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "gem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,973,508 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gem" and "gut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gem vs GIMP". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,973,508 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.