Which to use
“gemein” and “gemeiner” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,262
- “gemein” frequency rank
- #27,743
- “gemeiner” frequency rank
- 33005
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gemein | gemeiner |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine Eigenschaft habend, die mehreren gemeinsam ist | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gemein |
Where the eye mixes gemein and gemeiner
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gemein runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against gemeiner's 8 (CVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between gemein and gemeiner
A purely visual mix-up. gemein ([ɡəˈmaɪ̯n]) and gemeiner ([ɡəˈmaɪ̯nɐ]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “gemein” sits inside “gemeiner”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33005, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gemein is recorded at frequency rank #5,262, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈmaɪ̯n]. gemeiner is at rank #27,743, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈmaɪ̯nɐ].
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 33005, this pair ranks #1,695,335 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gemein vs gemeiner
Shared letters: egimn. Private to "gemein": -. Private to "gemeiner": r.
"gemein" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "gemeiner" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "gemein" and "gemeiner" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "gemein" or "gemeiner" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "gemein" and "gemeiner" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "gemein" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gemeiner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,695,335 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gemein" and "gemeiner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gemeiner vs gemeines". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #1,695,335 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.