genauevsgenauenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#3,586
“genaue” frequency rank
#6,068
“genauen” frequency rank
9654
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature genaue genauen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs genau Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs genau

Where the eye mixes genaue and genauen

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

6 ch
genaue
7 ch
genauen

Why the eye confuses genaue with genauen

A purely visual mix-up. genaue ([ɡəˈnaʊ̯ə]) and genauen ([ɡəˈnaʊ̯ən]) 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) - “genaue” sits inside “genauen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9654, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

genaue is recorded at frequency rank #3,586, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈnaʊ̯ə]. genauen is at rank #6,068, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈnaʊ̯ən].

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 9654, this pair ranks #1,978,931 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of genaue vs genauen

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

"genaue" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVV  ·  "genauen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • genaueegnaue · geanue · genaeu · gennaue · genuae · ggenaue · gneaue
  • genauenegnauen · geanuen · genaeun · genauenn · genaune · gennauen · genuaen · ggenauen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "genaue" for "genauen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈnaʊ̯ə] versus [ɡəˈnaʊ̯ən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "genaue" vs "genauen" - which ranks higher?
"genaue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,586 in our German list, against #6,068 for "genauen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "genaue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "genauen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,978,931 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "genaue" and "genauen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gemäuer vs genauen". 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 #1,978,931 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