Which to use
“Gewässer” is a noun and “gewisse” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,559
- “Gewässer” frequency rank
- #2,110
- “gewisse” frequency rank
- 11669
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Gewässer | gewisse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein von stehendem oder fließendem Wasser bedeckter Teil der Erdoberfläche | Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs gewiss |
Where the eye mixes Gewässer and gewisse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Gewässer runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against gewisse's 7 (CVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Gewässer vs gewisse
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gewässer is [ɡəˈvɛsɐ] while gewisse is [ɡəˈvɪsə]. 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 11669, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Gewässer is recorded at frequency rank #9,559, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈvɛsɐ]. gewisse is at rank #2,110, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈvɪsə].
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 11669, this pair ranks #1,968,577 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Gewässer vs gewisse
Shared letters: egsw. Private to "Gewässer": rä. Private to "gewisse": i.
"Gewässer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "gewisse" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- gewisse ← egwisse · geiwsse · gewise · gewises · gewiße · gewsise · gewwisse · ggewisse
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Gewässer" for "gewisse" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Gewässer" or "gewisse" show up more?
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 "Gewässer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gewisse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,968,577 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Gewässer" and "gewisse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Genüsse vs gewisse". 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 #1,968,577 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.