GüternvsgutesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#14,582
“Gütern” frequency rank
#793
“gutes” frequency rank
15375
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gütern gutes
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Gut Nominativ Singular Neutrum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs gut

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
Gütern
5 ch
gutes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gütern is [ˈɡyːtɐn] while gutes is [ˈɡuːtəs]. 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 15375, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gütern is recorded at frequency rank #14,582, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡyːtɐn]. gutes is at rank #793, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡuːtəs].

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 15375, this pair ranks #1,944,366 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gütern vs gutes

Shared letters: egt. Private to "Gütern": nrü. Private to "gutes": su.

"Gütern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "gutes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gutesggutes · gtues · guets · gutess · gutse · guttes · ugtes

Frequency comparison

Gütern#14,582
gutes#793

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gütern" and "gutes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Gütern" is a noun and "gutes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Gütern" or "gutes"?
"gutes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #793 in our German list, against #14,582 for "Gütern". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Gütern vs gutes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Gütern”; for an adjective, it's “gutes”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Gütern” 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