GläservsgläserneWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Gläser is a noun, gläserne is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Gläser” is a noun and “gläserne” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,379
“Gläser” frequency rank
#39,394
“gläserne” frequency rank
47773
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gläser gläserne
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Glas Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gläsern

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Gläser and gläserne apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Gläser
8 ch
gläserne

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gläser is [ˈɡlɛːzɐ] while gläserne is [ˈɡlɛːzɐnə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Gläser” sits inside “gläserne”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47773, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gläser is recorded at frequency rank #8,379, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡlɛːzɐ]. gläserne is at rank #39,394, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡlɛːzɐnə].

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 47773, this pair ranks #1,272,530 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Gläser vs gläserne

Shared letters: eglrsä. Private to "Gläser": -. Private to "gläserne": n.

"Gläser" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "gläserne" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV

Frequency comparison

Gläser#8,379
gläserne#39,394

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gläser" and "gläserne" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Gläser" is a noun and "gläserne" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Gläser" or "gläserne"?
"Gläser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,379 in our German list, against #39,394 for "gläserne". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Gläser vs gläserne

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Gläser”; for an adjective, it's “gläserne”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Gläser” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list