Which to use
“gemein” is an adjective and “gemeint” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,262
- “gemein” frequency rank
- #1,884
- “gemeint” frequency rank
- 7146
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gemein | gemeint |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine Eigenschaft habend, die mehreren gemeinsam ist | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs meinen |
Where the eye mixes gemein and gemeint
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: gemein vs gemeint
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gemein is [ɡəˈmaɪ̯n] while gemeint is [ɡəˈmaɪ̯nt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “gemein” sits inside “gemeint”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7146, 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]. gemeint is at rank #1,884, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈmaɪ̯nt].
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 7146, this pair ranks #1,989,226 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gemein vs gemeint
Shared letters: egimn. Private to "gemein": -. Private to "gemeint": t.
"gemein" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "gemeint" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gemein" and "gemeint" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "gemein" or "gemeint" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "gemein" and "gemeint" 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 "gemeint" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,989,226 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gemein" and "gemeint" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gemein vs Geweih". 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 #1,989,226 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.