geravsgrauWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: gera is a verb, grau is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#12,085
“gera” frequency rank
#4,519
“grau” frequency rank
16604
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gera grau
Definition tun in einer Farbe, die eine Mischung aus schwarz und weiß ist, gehalten

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gera and grau apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
gera
4 ch
grau

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

gera and grau form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16604, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gera is recorded at frequency rank #12,085, classified as averb, pronounced […]. grau is at rank #4,519, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡʁaʊ̯].

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 16604, this pair ranks #1,934,469 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

gera#12,085
grau#4,519

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gera" and "grau" be used interchangeably?
No, "gera" and "grau" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering gera vs grau

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “gera”; for an adjective, it's “grau”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gera” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list