GemeindenvsgemeineWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Gemeinden is a noun, gemeine is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Gemeinden” is a noun and “gemeine” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,061
“Gemeinden” frequency rank
#12,718
“gemeine” frequency rank
14779
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gemeinden gemeine
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Gemeinde Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gemein

Where the eye mixes Gemeinden and gemeine

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Gemeinden runs 9 letters (CVCVVCCVC) against gemeine's 7 (CVCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
Gemeinden
7 ch
gemeine

Why the eye confuses Gemeinden with gemeine

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gemeinden is [ɡəˈmaɪ̯ndn̩] while gemeine is [ɡəˈmaɪ̯nə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14779, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gemeinden is recorded at frequency rank #2,061, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈmaɪ̯ndn̩]. gemeine is at rank #12,718, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈmaɪ̯nə].

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 14779, this pair ranks #1,948,815 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gemeinden vs gemeine

Shared letters: egimn. Private to "Gemeinden": d. Private to "gemeine": -.

"Gemeinden" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC  ·  "gemeine" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gemeinden ← egmeinden · geeminden · gemeidnen · gemeindden · gemeindenn · gemeindne · gemeinedn · gemeinnden
  • gemeine ← egmeine · geemine · gemeien · gemeinne · gemenie · gemiene · gemmeine · ggemeine

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Gemeinden" and "gemeine" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Gemeinden" is a noun and "gemeine" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Gemeinden" vs "gemeine" - which ranks higher?
"Gemeinden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,061 in our German list, against #12,718 for "gemeine". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gemeinden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gemeine" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,948,815 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gemeinden" and "gemeine" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gemeine 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 #1,948,815 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