GemeindenvsgemeinerWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,061
“Gemeinden” frequency rank
#27,743
“gemeiner” frequency rank
29804
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gemeinden gemeiner
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Gemeinde Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gemein

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Gemeinden and gemeiner apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
Gemeinden
8 ch
gemeiner

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gemeinden is [ɡəˈmaɪ̯ndn̩] while gemeiner is [ɡəˈmaɪ̯nɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 29804, 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]. 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 29804, this pair ranks #1,759,989 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gemeinden vs gemeiner

Shared letters: egimn. Private to "Gemeinden": d. Private to "gemeiner": r.

"Gemeinden" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC  ·  "gemeiner" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gemeindenegmeinden · geeminden · gemeidnen · gemeindden · gemeindenn · gemeindne · gemeinedn · gemeinnden
  • gemeineregmeiner · geeminer · gemeienr · gemeinerr · gemeinner · gemeinre · gemenier · gemiener

Frequency comparison

Gemeinden#2,061
gemeiner#27,743

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gemeinden" and "gemeiner" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Gemeinden" is a noun and "gemeiner" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Gemeinden" or "gemeiner"?
"Gemeinden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,061 in our German list, against #27,743 for "gemeiner". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Gemeinden vs gemeiner

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Gemeinden”; for an adjective, it's “gemeiner”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Gemeinden” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list