gemeinvsgemeinteConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#5,262
“gemein” frequency rank
#23,952
“gemeinte” frequency rank
29214
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gemein gemeinte
Definition eine Eigenschaft habend, die mehreren gemeinsam ist Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gemeint

Where the eye mixes gemein and gemeinte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
gemein
8 ch
gemeinte

Why the eye confuses gemein with gemeinte

A purely visual mix-up. gemein ([ɡəˈmaɪ̯n]) and gemeinte ([ɡəˈmaɪ̯ntə]) 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 “gemeinte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29214, 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]. gemeinte is at rank #23,952, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈmaɪ̯ntə].

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 29214, this pair ranks #1,770,974 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gemein vs gemeinte

Shared letters: egimn. Private to "gemein": -. Private to "gemeinte": t.

"gemein" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "gemeinte" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gemeinegmein · geemin · gemeinn · gemeni · gemien · gemmein · ggemein · gmeein
  • gemeinteegmeinte · geeminte · gemeinet · gemeinnte · gemeintte · gemeitne · gemenite · gemiente

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gemein" for "gemeinte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈmaɪ̯n] versus [ɡəˈmaɪ̯ntə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "gemein" or "gemeinte" show up more?
"gemein" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,262 in our German list, against #23,952 for "gemeinte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gemein" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gemeinte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,770,974 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gemein" and "gemeinte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gemeines vs gemeinte". 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 #1,770,974 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