intensivervsintensivesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,575
“intensiver” frequency rank
#27,787
“intensives” frequency rank
36362
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature intensiver intensives
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs intensiv Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs intensiv

Where the eye mixes intensiver and intensives

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. intensiver and intensives follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
intensiver
10 ch
intensives

Why the eye confuses intensiver with intensives

A purely visual mix-up. intensiver ([ɪntɛnˈziːvɐ]) and intensives ([ɪntɛnˈziːvəs]) 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 a single letter - r in “intensiver” becomes s in “intensives”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36362, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

intensiver is recorded at frequency rank #8,575, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɪntɛnˈziːvɐ]. intensives is at rank #27,787, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɪntɛnˈziːvəs].

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 36362, this pair ranks #1,617,508 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of intensiver vs intensives

Shared letters: einstv. Private to "intensiver": r. Private to "intensives": -.

"intensiver" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC  ·  "intensives" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • intensiver ← inetnsiver · inntensiver · intenisver · intennsiver · intensievr · intensiverr · intensivre · intensivver
  • intensives ← inetnsives · inntensives · intenisves · intennsives · intensievs · intensivess · intensivse · intensivves

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "intensiver" and "intensives" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɪntɛnˈziːvɐ] versus [ɪntɛnˈziːvəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "intensiver" vs "intensives" - which ranks higher?
"intensiver" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,575 in our German list, against #27,787 for "intensives". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "intensiver" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "intensives" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,617,508 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "intensiver" and "intensives" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intensivere vs intensives". 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 #1,617,508 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