gewöhnlichevsgewöhnlichesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#13,156
“gewöhnliche” frequency rank
#35,807
“gewöhnliches” frequency rank
48963
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gewöhnliche gewöhnliches
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gewöhnlich Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gewöhnlich

Where the eye mixes gewöhnliche and gewöhnliches

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

11 ch
gewöhnliche
12 ch
gewöhnliches

Why the eye confuses gewöhnliche with gewöhnliches

A purely visual mix-up. gewöhnliche ([ɡəˈvøːnlɪçə]) and gewöhnliches ([ɡəˈvøːnlɪçəs]) 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 “gewöhnliches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48963, 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]. gewöhnliches is at rank #35,807, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈvøːnlɪçəs].

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 48963, this pair ranks #1,229,077 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gewöhnliche vs gewöhnliches

Shared letters: ceghilnwö. Private to "gewöhnliche": -. Private to "gewöhnliches": s.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gewöhnliche" and "gewöhnliches" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈvøːnlɪçə] versus [ɡəˈvøːnlɪçəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gewöhnliche" or "gewöhnliches"?
"gewöhnliche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,156 in our German list, against #35,807 for "gewöhnliches". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gewöhnliche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gewöhnliches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,229,077 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gewöhnliche" and "gewöhnliches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gewöhnlicher vs gewöhnliches". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,229,077 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