gewöhnlichevsgewöhnlicherWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,156
“gewöhnliche” frequency rank
#18,905
“gewöhnlicher” frequency rank
32061
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gewöhnliche gewöhnlicher
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gewöhnlich Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs gewöhnlich

Where the eye mixes gewöhnliche and gewöhnlicher

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. gewöhnliche runs 11 letters (CVCVCCCVCCV) against gewöhnlicher's 12 (CVCVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
gewöhnliche
12 ch
gewöhnlicher

Look-alike desk: gewöhnliche vs gewöhnlicher

A purely visual mix-up. gewöhnliche ([ɡəˈvøːnlɪçə]) and gewöhnlicher ([ɡəˈvøːnlɪçɐ]) 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) - “gewöhnliche” sits inside “gewöhnlicher”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32061, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gewöhnliche is recorded at frequency rank #13,156, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈvøːnlɪçə]. gewöhnlicher is at rank #18,905, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈvøːnlɪçɐ].

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 32061, this pair ranks #1,715,481 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gewöhnliche vs gewöhnlicher

Shared letters: ceghilnwö. Private to "gewöhnliche": -. Private to "gewöhnlicher": r.

"gewöhnliche" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCCV  ·  "gewöhnlicher" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gewöhnliche" and "gewöhnlicher" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈvøːnlɪçə] versus [ɡəˈvøːnlɪçɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "gewöhnliche" or "gewöhnlicher" show up more?
"gewöhnliche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,156 in our German list, against #18,905 for "gewöhnlicher". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gewöhnliche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gewöhnlicher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,715,481 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gewöhnliche" and "gewöhnlicher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gewöhnlicher vs gewöhnliches". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,715,481 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