Which to use
“Grundfläche” is a noun and “gründliche” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,334
- “Grundfläche” frequency rank
- #22,364
- “gründliche” frequency rank
- 49698
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Grundfläche | gründliche |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | untere ebene Fläche eines Körpers oder Raums | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gründlich |
Where the eye mixes Grundfläche and gründliche
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Grundfläche runs 11 letters (CCVCCCCVCCV) against gründliche's 10 (CCVCCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Grundfläche with gründliche
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Grundfläche is [ˈɡʁʊntˌflɛçə] while gründliche is [ˈɡʁʏntlɪçə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49698, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Grundfläche is recorded at frequency rank #27,334, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡʁʊntˌflɛçə]. gründliche is at rank #22,364, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡʁʏntlɪçə].
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 49698, this pair ranks #1,201,645 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Grundfläche vs gründliche
Shared letters: cdeghlnr. Private to "Grundfläche": fuä. Private to "gründliche": iü.
"Grundfläche" · 11 letters · shape CCVCCCCVCCV · "gründliche" · 10 letters · shape CCVCCCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Grundfläche" for "gründliche" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Grundfläche" or "gründliche" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Grundfläche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gründliche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,201,645 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Grundfläche" and "gründliche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Grundfläche vs Grünfläche". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,201,645 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.