gutesvsgütigWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#793
“gutes” frequency rank
#36,974
“gütig” frequency rank
37767
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gutes gütig
Definition Nominativ Singular Neutrum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs gut jemandem freundlich gesinnt

Where the eye mixes gutes and gütig

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. gutes and gütig follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
gutes
5 ch
gütig

Visual trap between gutes and gütig

A purely visual mix-up. gutes ([ˈɡuːtəs]) and gütig ([ˈɡyːtɪç]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37767, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gutes is recorded at frequency rank #793, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡuːtəs]. gütig is at rank #36,974, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡyːtɪç].

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 37767, this pair ranks #1,581,563 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gutes vs gütig

Shared letters: gt. Private to "gutes": esu. Private to "gütig": iü.

"gutes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "gütig" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gutes ← ggutes · gtues · guets · gutess · gutse · guttes · ugtes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gutes" and "gütig" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡuːtəs] versus [ˈɡyːtɪç]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gutes" or "gütig"?
"gutes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #793 in our German list, against #36,974 for "gütig". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "gutes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gütig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,581,563 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gutes" and "gütig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gotik vs gütig". 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 #1,581,563 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