Which to use
“gemeine” and “gemeiner” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,718
- “gemeine” frequency rank
- #27,743
- “gemeiner” frequency rank
- 40461
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gemeine | gemeiner |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gemein | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gemein |
Where the eye mixes gemeine and gemeiner
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. gemeine runs 7 letters (CVCVVCV) against gemeiner's 8 (CVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses gemeine with gemeiner
A purely visual mix-up. gemeine ([ɡəˈmaɪ̯nə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “gemeine” sits inside “gemeiner”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40461, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gemeine is recorded at frequency rank #12,718, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈmaɪ̯nə]. 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 40461, this pair ranks #1,507,816 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gemeine vs gemeiner
Shared letters: egimn. Private to "gemeine": -. Private to "gemeiner": r.
"gemeine" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV · "gemeiner" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gemeine" and "gemeiner" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "gemeine" or "gemeiner" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "gemeine" 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 #1,507,816 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gemeine" 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 #1,507,816 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.