Which to use
“intensive” and “intensiver” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,627
- “intensive” frequency rank
- #8,575
- “intensiver” frequency rank
- 16202
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intensive | intensiver |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs intensiv | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs intensiv |
Where the eye mixes intensive and intensiver
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. intensive runs 9 letters (VCCVCCVCV) against intensiver's 10 (VCCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between intensive and intensiver
A purely visual mix-up. intensive ([ɪntɛnˈziːvə]) and intensiver ([ɪntɛnˈziːvɐ]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “intensive” sits inside “intensiver”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16202, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intensive is recorded at frequency rank #7,627, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɪntɛnˈziːvə]. intensiver is at rank #8,575, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɪntɛnˈziːvɐ].
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 16202, this pair ranks #1,937,759 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of intensive vs intensiver
Shared letters: einstv. Private to "intensive": -. Private to "intensiver": r.
"intensive" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV · "intensiver" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- intensive ← inetnsive · inntensive · intenisve · intennsive · intensiev · intensivve · intenssive · intensvie
- intensiver ← inetnsiver · inntensiver · intenisver · intennsiver · intensievr · intensiverr · intensivre · intensivver
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "intensive" for "intensiver" ever safe?
Frequency check: "intensive" vs "intensiver" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "intensive" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intensiver" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,937,759 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "intensive" and "intensiver" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intensiver vs intensivere". 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 #1,937,759 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.