geradevsgeraderConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#155
“gerade” frequency rank
#30,576
“gerader” frequency rank
30731
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gerade gerader
Definition nicht gebogen oder gekrümmt Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs gerade

Where the eye mixes gerade and gerader

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
gerade
7 ch
gerader

Why the eye confuses gerade with gerader

A purely visual mix-up. gerade ([ɡəˈʁaːdə]) and gerader ([ɡəˈʁaːdɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “gerade” sits inside “gerader”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30731, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gerade is recorded at frequency rank #155, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʁaːdə]. gerader is at rank #30,576, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʁaːdɐ].

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 30731, this pair ranks #1,742,171 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gerade vs gerader

Shared letters: adegr. Private to "gerade": -. Private to "gerader": -.

"gerade" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "gerader" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • geradeegrade · gearde · geradde · geraed · gerdae · gerrade · ggerade · greade
  • geraderegrader · gearder · geradder · geraderr · geradre · geraedr · gerdaer · gerrader

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gerade" and "gerader" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈʁaːdə] versus [ɡəˈʁaːdɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gerade" or "gerader"?
"gerade" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #155 in our German list, against #30,576 for "gerader". 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 "gerade" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gerader" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,742,171 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gerade" and "gerader" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gemäuer vs gerader". 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 #1,742,171 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