GnadevsGnadenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,303
“Gnade” frequency rank
#13,851
“Gnaden” frequency rank
20154
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gnade Gnaden
Definition die Handlung, eine Strafe, die man verhängen kann, einzuschränken oder aufzuheben; die juristisch bindende Anordnung, eine bereits verhängte Strafe zu mindern oder insgesamt zu erlassen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Gnade

Where the eye mixes Gnade and Gnaden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Gnade
6 ch
Gnaden

Why the eye confuses Gnade with Gnaden

A purely visual mix-up. Gnade ([ˈɡnaːdə]) and Gnaden ([ˈɡnaːdn̩]) 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) - “Gnade” sits inside “Gnaden”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20154, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gnade is recorded at frequency rank #6,303, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡnaːdə]. Gnaden is at rank #13,851, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡnaːdn̩].

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 20154, this pair ranks #1,900,679 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gnade vs Gnaden

Shared letters: adegn. Private to "Gnade": -. Private to "Gnaden": -.

"Gnade" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Gnaden" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gnadegande · ggnade · gnadde · gnaed · gndae · gnnade · ngade
  • Gnadenganden · ggnaden · gnadden · gnadenn · gnadne · gnaedn · gndaen · gnnaden

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Gnade" and "Gnaden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡnaːdə] versus [ˈɡnaːdn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Gnade" or "Gnaden"?
"Gnade" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,303 in our German list, against #13,851 for "Gnaden". 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 "Gnade" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gnaden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,900,679 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gnade" and "Gnaden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gilden vs Gnaden". 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 #1,900,679 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