gensvsgeraTell them apart

Quick tell: gens is a noun, gera is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gens” is a noun and “gera” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#36,355
“gens” frequency rank
#12,085
“gera” frequency rank
48440
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gens gera
Definition Menschen im Allgemeinen oder ein Gruppe von Menschen (meist unbestimmter Zahl); Leute tun

Letter map: gens vs gera

Shared letters muted; letters that set gens and gera apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. gens (CVCC) and gera (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
gens
4 ch
gera

Grammar separator: gens vs gera

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: gens is anoun and geraaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48440, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gens is recorded at frequency rank #36,355, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʒã]. gera is at rank #12,085, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 48440, this pair ranks #1,248,513 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gens vs gera

Shared letters: eg. Private to "gens": ns. Private to "gera": ar.

"gens" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "gera" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gensegns · genns · genss · gesn · ggens · gnes
  • geraegra · gerra · ggera · grea

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gens" and "gera" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gens" is a noun and "gera" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "gens" vs "gera" - which ranks higher?
"gera" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,085 in our German list, against #36,355 for "gens". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "gens" and "gera".

  • Full dictionary entry for "gens" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gera" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,248,513 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gens" and "gera" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geis vs gens". 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 #1,248,513 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