GewerkschaftvsGewerkschaftenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,054
“Gewerkschaft” frequency rank
#5,841
“Gewerkschaften” frequency rank
12895
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gewerkschaft Gewerkschaften
Definition Organisation, Verein der Arbeitnehmer zum Durchsetzen eigener Interessen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Gewerkschaft

Where the eye mixes Gewerkschaft and Gewerkschaften

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. Gewerkschaft runs 12 letters (CVCVCCCCCVCC) against Gewerkschaften's 14 (CVCVCCCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

12 ch
Gewerkschaft
14 ch
Gewerkschaften

Visual trap between Gewerkschaft and Gewerkschaften

A purely visual mix-up. Gewerkschaft ([ɡəˈvɛʁkʃaft]) and Gewerkschaften ([ɡəˈvɛʁkʃaftn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “Gewerkschaft” sits inside “Gewerkschaften”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12895, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gewerkschaft is recorded at frequency rank #7,054, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈvɛʁkʃaft]. Gewerkschaften is at rank #5,841, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈvɛʁkʃaftn̩].

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 12895, this pair ranks #1,961,363 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gewerkschaft vs Gewerkschaften

Shared letters: acefghkrstw. Private to "Gewerkschaft": -. Private to "Gewerkschaften": n.

"Gewerkschaft" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCCCCVCC  ·  "Gewerkschaften" · 14 letters · shape CVCVCCCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gewerkschaft ← egwerkschaft · geewrkschaft · gewekrschaft · gewerkcshaft · gewerkkschaft · gewerkscahft · gewerkscchaft · gewerkschafft
  • Gewerkschaften ← egwerkschaften · geewrkschaften · gewekrschaften · gewerkcshaften · gewerkkschaften · gewerkscahften · gewerkscchaften · gewerkschafetn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Gewerkschaft" and "Gewerkschaften" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈvɛʁkʃaft] versus [ɡəˈvɛʁkʃaftn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Gewerkschaft" or "Gewerkschaften"?
"Gewerkschaften" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,841 in our German list, against #7,054 for "Gewerkschaft". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Gewerkschaft" and "Gewerkschaften" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gewerkschaft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gewerkschaften" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,961,363 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gewerkschaft" and "Gewerkschaften" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gewerkschaft vs Gewerkschafter". 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 #1,961,363 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