Which to use
“gewiss” is an adverb and “gewusst” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,842
- “gewiss” frequency rank
- #3,739
- “gewusst” frequency rank
- 9581
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gewiss | gewusst |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht genau bestimmbar oder bestimmt | von allen gekannt, in der Kenntnis der Allgemeinheit bereits vorhanden |
Where the eye mixes gewiss and gewusst
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. gewiss runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against gewusst's 7 (CVCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: gewiss vs gewusst
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gewiss is [ɡəˈvɪs] while gewusst is [ɡəˈvʊst]. 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 (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9581, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gewiss is recorded at frequency rank #5,842, classified as anadv, pronounced [ɡəˈvɪs]. gewusst is at rank #3,739, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈvʊst].
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 9581, this pair ranks #1,979,283 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gewiss vs gewusst
Shared letters: egsw. Private to "gewiss": i. Private to "gewusst": tu.
"gewiss" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "gewusst" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gewiss" and "gewusst" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "gewiss" or "gewusst" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "gewiss" and "gewusst" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "gewiss" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gewusst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,979,283 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gewiss" and "gewusst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geis vs gewiss". 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 #1,979,283 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.