geringevsgeringenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,121
“geringe” frequency rank
#4,043
“geringen” frequency rank
8164
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature geringe geringen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs gering Genitiv Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs gering

Where the eye mixes geringe and geringen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
geringe
8 ch
geringen

Look-alike desk: geringe vs geringen

A purely visual mix-up. geringe ([ɡəˈʁɪŋə]) and geringen ([ɡəˈʁɪŋən]) 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) - “geringe” sits inside “geringen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8164, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

geringe is recorded at frequency rank #4,121, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʁɪŋə]. geringen is at rank #4,043, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʁɪŋən].

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 8164, this pair ranks #1,985,383 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of geringe vs geringen

Shared letters: eginr. Private to "geringe": -. Private to "geringen": -.

"geringe" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "geringen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • geringeegringe · geirnge · gerigne · gerineg · geringge · gerinnge · gernige · gerringe
  • geringenegringen · geirngen · gerignen · gerinegn · geringenn · geringgen · geringne · gerinngen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "geringe" and "geringen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈʁɪŋə] versus [ɡəˈʁɪŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "geringe" vs "geringen" - which ranks higher?
"geringen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,043 in our German list, against #4,121 for "geringe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "geringe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "geringen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,985,383 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "geringe" and "geringen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geringe vs Gerlinde". 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 #1,985,383 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