genauvsgenaueWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#211
“genau” frequency rank
#3,586
“genaue” frequency rank
3797
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature genau genaue
Definition gründlich und sorgfältig, was das Einhalten von selbstgesetzten oder fremden Regeln betrifft Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs genau

Where the eye mixes genau and genaue

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
genau
6 ch
genaue

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. genau ([ɡəˈnaʊ̯]) and genaue ([ɡəˈnaʊ̯ə]) 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) - “genau” sits inside “genaue”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3797, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

genau is recorded at frequency rank #211, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈnaʊ̯]. genaue is at rank #3,586, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈnaʊ̯ə].

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 3797, this pair ranks #1,999,341 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of genau vs genaue

Shared letters: aegnu. Private to "genau": -. Private to "genaue": -.

"genau" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "genaue" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • genauegnau · geanu · gennau · ggenau · gneau
  • genaueegnaue · geanue · genaeu · gennaue · genuae · ggenaue · gneaue

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "genau" and "genaue" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈnaʊ̯] versus [ɡəˈnaʊ̯ə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "genau" or "genaue"?
"genau" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #211 in our German list, against #3,586 for "genaue". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list