gutvsgutemWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#89
“gut” frequency rank
#4,125
“gutem” frequency rank
4214
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gut gutem
Definition vom Menschen her positiv bewertet, empfunden, gefühlt und dergleichen Dativ Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs gut

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gut and gutem apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
gut
5 ch
gutem

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. gut ([ɡuːt]) and gutem ([ˈɡuːtəm]) 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) - “gut” sits inside “gutem”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4214, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gut is recorded at frequency rank #89, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡuːt]. gutem is at rank #4,125, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡuːtəm].

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 4214, this pair ranks #1,998,287 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gut vs gutem

Shared letters: gtu. Private to "gut": -. Private to "gutem": em.

"gut" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "gutem" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gutemggutem · gtuem · guetm · gutemm · gutme · guttem · ugtem

Frequency comparison

gut#89
gutem#4,125

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gut" and "gutem" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡuːt] versus [ˈɡuːtəm]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gut" or "gutem"?
"gut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #89 in our German list, against #4,125 for "gutem". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering gut vs gutem

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gut” 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