genugvsgenügenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: genug is a pronoun, genügen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“genug” is a pronoun and “genügen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#390
“genug” frequency rank
#10,479
“genügen” frequency rank
10869
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature genug genügen
Definition ausreichend für einen bestimmten Zweck in ausreichendem Maß zur Verfügung stehen

Where the eye mixes genug and genügen

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

5 ch
genug
7 ch
genügen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: genug is [ɡəˈnuːk] while genügen is [ɡəˈnyːɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10869, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

genug is recorded at frequency rank #390, classified as apron, pronounced [ɡəˈnuːk]. genügen is at rank #10,479, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈnyːɡn̩].

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 10869, this pair ranks #1,972,912 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of genug vs genügen

Shared letters: egn. Private to "genug": u. Private to "genügen": ü.

"genug" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "genügen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • genugegnug · gengu · gennug · genugg · geung · ggenug · gneug

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "genug" and "genügen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "genug" is a pronoun and "genügen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "genug" or "genügen"?
"genug" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #390 in our German list, against #10,479 for "genügen". 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