gewissevsgewissemWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,110
“gewisse” frequency rank
#34,130
“gewissem” frequency rank
36240
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gewisse gewissem
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs gewiss Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gewiss

Where the eye mixes gewisse and gewissem

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

7 ch
gewisse
8 ch
gewissem

Why the eye confuses gewisse with gewissem

A purely visual mix-up. gewisse ([ɡəˈvɪsə]) and gewissem ([ɡəˈvɪsəm]) 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) - “gewisse” sits inside “gewissem”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36240, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gewisse is recorded at frequency rank #2,110, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈvɪsə]. gewissem is at rank #34,130, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈvɪsəm].

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 36240, this pair ranks #1,620,573 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gewisse vs gewissem

Shared letters: egisw. Private to "gewisse": -. Private to "gewissem": m.

"gewisse" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "gewissem" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gewisseegwisse · geiwsse · gewise · gewises · gewiße · gewsise · gewwisse · ggewisse
  • gewissemegwissem · geiwssem · gewisem · gewisesm · gewissemm · gewissme · gewißem · gewsisem

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gewisse" and "gewissem" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈvɪsə] versus [ɡəˈvɪsəm]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gewisse" vs "gewissem" - which ranks higher?
"gewisse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,110 in our German list, against #34,130 for "gewissem". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gewisse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gewissem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,620,573 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gewisse" and "gewissem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gewiesen vs gewissem". 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 #1,620,573 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