genugvsGenusWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#390
“genug” frequency rank
#24,736
“Genus” frequency rank
25126
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature genug Genus
Definition ausreichend grammatische Kategorie von Substantiven, Adjektiven, Artikeln, Pronomen (also von Nomen im traditionellen weiteren Sinn)

Where the eye mixes genug and Genus

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

5 ch
genug
5 ch
Genus

Look-alike desk: genug vs Genus

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: genug is [ɡəˈnuːk] while Genus is [ˈɡɛnʊs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - g in “genug” becomes s in “Genus”, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25126, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

genug is recorded at frequency rank #390, classified as apron, pronounced [ɡəˈnuːk]. Genus is at rank #24,736, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡɛnʊs].

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 25126, this pair ranks #1,837,766 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of genug vs Genus

Shared letters: egnu. Private to "genug": -. Private to "Genus": s.

"genug" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Genus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • genugegnug · gengu · gennug · genugg · geung · ggenug · gneug
  • Genusegnus · gennus · gensu · geuns · ggenus · gneus

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "genug" and "Genus" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "genug" is a pronoun and "Genus" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "genug" or "Genus" show up more?
"genug" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #390 in our German list, against #24,736 for "Genus". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "genug" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Genus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,837,766 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "genug" and "Genus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Genus vs Genüsse". 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 #1,837,766 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