gerechtevsGerücheTell them apart

Quick tell: gerechte is a adjective, Gerüche is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gerechte” is an adjective and “Gerüche” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,840
“gerechte” frequency rank
#28,217
“Gerüche” frequency rank
42057
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gerechte Gerüche
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gerecht Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Geruch

Where the eye mixes gerechte and Gerüche

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gerechte runs 8 letters (CVCVCCCV) against Gerüche's 7 (CVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
gerechte
7 ch
Gerüche

Why the eye confuses gerechte with Gerüche

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gerechte is [ɡəˈʁɛçtə] while Gerüche is [ɡəˈʁʏçə]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42057, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gerechte is recorded at frequency rank #13,840, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʁɛçtə]. Gerüche is at rank #28,217, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈʁʏçə].

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 42057, this pair ranks #1,460,875 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gerechte vs Gerüche

Shared letters: ceghr. Private to "gerechte": t. Private to "Gerüche": ü.

"gerechte" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV  ·  "Gerüche" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gerechteegrechte · geerchte · gercehte · gerecchte · gerechet · gerechhte · gerechtte · gerecthe

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gerechte" for "Gerüche" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gerechte" is an adjective and "Gerüche" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "gerechte" or "Gerüche" show up more?
"gerechte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,840 in our German list, against #28,217 for "Gerüche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "gerechte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gerüche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,460,875 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gerechte" and "Gerüche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gerechte vs gerechtere". 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 #1,460,875 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