Which to use
“Gerät” is a noun and “grau” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,109
- “Gerät” frequency rank
- #4,519
- “grau” frequency rank
- 6628
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Gerät | grau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein Werkzeug oder Hilfsmittel; ein (ursprünglich einfach aufgebauter) beweglicher Gegenstand, mit dem etwas bewirkt werden kann | in einer Farbe, die eine Mischung aus schwarz und weiß ist, gehalten |
Where the eye mixes Gerät and grau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Gerät vs grau
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gerät is [ɡəˈʁɛːt] while grau is [ɡʁaʊ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6628, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Gerät is recorded at frequency rank #2,109, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈʁɛːt]. 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 6628, this pair ranks #1,990,993 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Gerät vs grau
Shared letters: gr. Private to "Gerät": etä. Private to "grau": au.
"Gerät" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "grau" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- grau ← garu · ggrau · grrau · grua · rgau
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Gerät" for "grau" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Gerät" vs "grau" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Gerät" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,990,993 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Gerät" and "grau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gao vs grau". 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 #1,990,993 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.