genauevsgeradeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#3,586
“genaue” frequency rank
#155
“gerade” frequency rank
3741
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature genaue gerade
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs genau nicht gebogen oder gekrümmt

Where the eye mixes genaue and gerade

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
genaue
6 ch
gerade

Look-alike desk: genaue vs gerade

A purely visual mix-up. genaue ([ɡəˈnaʊ̯ə]) and gerade ([ɡəˈʁaːdə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3741, 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]. gerade is at rank #155, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʁaːdə].

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 3741, this pair ranks #1,999,480 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of genaue vs gerade

Shared letters: aeg. Private to "genaue": nu. Private to "gerade": dr.

"genaue" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVV  ·  "gerade" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • genaueegnaue · geanue · genaeu · gennaue · genuae · ggenaue · gneaue
  • geradeegrade · gearde · geradde · geraed · gerdae · gerrade · ggerade · greade

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "genaue" and "gerade" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈnaʊ̯ə] versus [ɡəˈʁaːdə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "genaue" vs "gerade" - which ranks higher?
"gerade" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #155 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.

What to do next

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 "gerade" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,999,480 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "genaue" and "gerade" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gemäuer vs genaue". 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 #1,999,480 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