KommunikationvskommunikativenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,345
“Kommunikation” frequency rank
#49,020
“kommunikativen” frequency rank
51365
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kommunikation kommunikativen
Definition Handlung zwischen Menschen und Organisationen unter gegenseitiger Bezugnahme mit zwei oder mehr Akteuren (möglicherweise auch über ein Medium); Informationsmitteilung in Form von Zeichen, Ziel ist das Verstehen dieser Mitteilungen Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kommunikativ

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Kommunikation and kommunikativen apart are highlighted. They share 12 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

13 ch
Kommunikation
14 ch
kommunikativen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kommunikation is [kɔmunikaˈt͡si̯oːn] while kommunikativen is [kɔmunikaˈtiːvn̩]. 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 51365, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kommunikation is recorded at frequency rank #2,345, classified as anoun, pronounced [kɔmunikaˈt͡si̯oːn]. kommunikativen is at rank #49,020, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kɔmunikaˈtiːvn̩].

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 51365, this pair ranks #1,138,315 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kommunikation vs kommunikativen

Shared letters: aikmnotu. Private to "Kommunikation": -. Private to "kommunikativen": ev.

"Kommunikation" · 13 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVCVVC  ·  "kommunikativen" · 14 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kommunikationkkommunikation · kmomunikation · kommnuikation · kommuinkation · kommuniaktion · kommunikaiton · kommunikatino · kommunikationn
  • kommunikativenkkommunikativen · kmomunikativen · kommnuikativen · kommuinkativen · kommuniaktiven · kommunikaitven · kommunikatievn · kommunikativenn

Frequency comparison

Kommunikation#2,345
kommunikativen#49,020

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kommunikation" and "kommunikativen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kommunikation" is a noun and "kommunikativen" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Kommunikation" or "kommunikativen"?
"Kommunikation" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,345 in our German list, against #49,020 for "kommunikativen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Kommunikation vs kommunikativen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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