GunstvsgünstigWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#14,091
“Gunst” frequency rank
#2,963
“günstig” frequency rank
17054
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gunst günstig
Definition die Bevorzugung, das Wohlwollen, die Gewogenheit den geforderten Aufwand, meist den Preis (das Geld), wert oder oft auch mehr als wert

Where the eye mixes Gunst and günstig

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Gunst runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against günstig's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Gunst
7 ch
günstig

Look-alike desk: Gunst vs günstig

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gunst is [ɡʊnst] while günstig is [ˈɡʏnstɪç]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 17054, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gunst is recorded at frequency rank #14,091, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡʊnst]. günstig is at rank #2,963, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡʏnstɪç].

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 17054, this pair ranks #1,930,749 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gunst vs günstig

Shared letters: gnst. Private to "Gunst": u. Private to "günstig": iü.

"Gunst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "günstig" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gunst ← ggunst · gnust · gunnst · gunsst · gunstt · gunts · gusnt · ugnst

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gunst" and "günstig" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Gunst" is a noun and "günstig" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Gunst" or "günstig"?
"günstig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,963 in our German list, against #14,091 for "Gunst". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gunst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "günstig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,930,749 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gunst" and "günstig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gunst vs Gustl". 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 #1,930,749 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