grundlegendvsgrundlegendesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,384
“grundlegend” frequency rank
#32,575
“grundlegendes” frequency rank
40959
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature grundlegend grundlegendes
Definition die Grundlage herstellend, die Basis bildend Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs grundlegend

Where the eye mixes grundlegend and grundlegendes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. grundlegend runs 11 letters (CCVCCCVCVCC) against grundlegendes's 13 (CCVCCCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
grundlegend
13 ch
grundlegendes

Look-alike desk: grundlegend vs grundlegendes

A purely visual mix-up. grundlegend ([ˈɡʁʊntˌleːɡn̩t]) and grundlegendes ([ˈɡʁʊntˌleːɡn̩dəs]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “grundlegend” sits inside “grundlegendes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40959, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

grundlegend is recorded at frequency rank #8,384, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡʁʊntˌleːɡn̩t]. grundlegendes is at rank #32,575, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡʁʊntˌleːɡn̩dəs].

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 40959, this pair ranks #1,493,391 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of grundlegend vs grundlegendes

Shared letters: deglnru. Private to "grundlegend": -. Private to "grundlegendes": s.

"grundlegend" · 11 letters · shape CCVCCCVCVCC  ·  "grundlegendes" · 13 letters · shape CCVCCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • grundlegendggrundlegend · grnudlegend · grrundlegend · grudnlegend · grunddlegend · grundelgend · grundleegnd · grundlegedn
  • grundlegendesggrundlegendes · grnudlegendes · grrundlegendes · grudnlegendes · grunddlegendes · grundelgendes · grundleegndes · grundlegednes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "grundlegend" and "grundlegendes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡʁʊntˌleːɡn̩t] versus [ˈɡʁʊntˌleːɡn̩dəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "grundlegend" or "grundlegendes"?
"grundlegend" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,384 in our German list, against #32,575 for "grundlegendes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "grundlegend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "grundlegendes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,493,391 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "grundlegend" and "grundlegendes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grundlegender vs grundlegendes". 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 #1,493,391 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