kommunalevskommunalerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,687
“kommunale” frequency rank
#18,954
“kommunaler” frequency rank
30641
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kommunale kommunaler
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kommunal Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kommunal

Where the eye mixes kommunale and kommunaler

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. kommunale runs 9 letters (CVCCVCVCV) against kommunaler's 10 (CVCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
kommunale
10 ch
kommunaler

Why the eye confuses kommunale with kommunaler

A purely visual mix-up. kommunale ([kɔmuˈnaːlə]) and kommunaler ([kɔmuˈnaːlɐ]) 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) - “kommunale” sits inside “kommunaler”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30641, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kommunale is recorded at frequency rank #11,687, classified as anadj, pronounced [kɔmuˈnaːlə]. kommunaler is at rank #18,954, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kɔmuˈnaːlɐ].

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 30641, this pair ranks #1,743,900 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kommunale vs kommunaler

Shared letters: aeklmnou. Private to "kommunale": -. Private to "kommunaler": r.

"kommunale" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV  ·  "kommunaler" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kommunalekkommunale · kmomunale · kommnuale · kommuanle · kommunael · kommunalle · kommunlae · kommunnale
  • kommunalerkkommunaler · kmomunaler · kommnualer · kommuanler · kommunaelr · kommunalerr · kommunaller · kommunalre

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "kommunale" and "kommunaler" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kɔmuˈnaːlə] versus [kɔmuˈnaːlɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "kommunale" or "kommunaler" show up more?
"kommunale" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,687 in our German list, against #18,954 for "kommunaler". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "kommunale" and "kommunaler" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kommunale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kommunaler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,743,900 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kommunale" and "kommunaler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kommunaler vs kommunales". 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 #1,743,900 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